[ih] IP version 7

[Brian E Carpenter]

Scott's answer is definitively correct, but there is a bit more to be said
in answer to Marco's question.

In July 1992, if I have this right, version 6 had been assigned to SIP
(simple Internet protocol, https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-deering-sip-00
from Steve Deering), so 7 was the next available number. Since Jon Postel
was IANA and was an IAB member, I think that explains why the IAB draft
used 7. SIP later merged with other proposals as SIPP prior to final
mutation into IPv6.

The IAB draft rather whimsically entitled "IP Version 7 **DRAFT 8**"
did not have a great reception, since it didn't actually define a
version of IP; it said "let's use OSI CLNP instead of IP".

That didn't work out well for the IAB. My personal interpretation
starts at page 102 in my book.

Regards
   Brian Carpenter

On 19-Dec-20 03:15, Marco Davids (Private) via Internet-history wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> Today I learned of:
> 
> https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-iab-ipversion7
> (also referred to in RFC1726).
> 
> It was written well before IPv6.
> 
> I know why IPv5 was skipped, but does anyone happen to know why IPv7 was 
> ultimately dubbed IPv6?
>