[ih] Gateway Issue: Certification (was Re: booting linux on a 4004)

[Craig Partridge]

On Wed, Oct 2, 2024 at 11:18 PM Jack Haverty via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> [changed the subject to reflect the content...]
>
> No such tests or testing program was defined for Gateways, or anything
> else AFAIK - such as DNS servers, mail, file, telnet servers and
> clients, etc.  TCP and IP were subject to testing, but other important
> technology, such as ICMP, was not.
>
> The need for such tests and certifications was noted on the ICCB list of
> "things we still need to do", circa 1983.
>
>
The issue was picked up again in the late 1980s as NSF was working to make
NSFNET happen.

The first realization was that there was not a list of "these are the RFCs
[and their modifying RFCs/best practices/whatever]" that a router must
implement.  So NSFNET participants had trouble specifying what their router
needs were to vendors. Bob Braden and Jon Postel were tasked with creating
a router/gateway profile, RFC 1009, which notably still uses the term
router and gateway semi-interchangeably.

RFC 1009 was a big step forward, but (quietly) a number of folks also
reacted it was well short of what was required.  It was a tutorial of
about 50 pages, rather than a firm specification of "do this", "don't do
this".  It was an awkward document to use in a procurement.

So when NSF encouraged the IETF to create a similar host requirements, a
bunch of the not quite happy with RFC 1009 folks joined together to work
with Bob Braden to try to do a better requirements document.  And mostly,
in my biased view (I was a participant), did a pretty good job -- 200 pages
of dense requirements split over two RFCs (1122 and 1123).  The group also
developed the now familiar "MUST", "SHOULD", "MAY" terminology
that defined conformance with the requirements.  Bob deserves huge credit
for stewarding the effort.

Based on the success of Host Requirements, folks turned around to look at
router requirements again -- it took years until finally, RFC 1812 appeared
(c. 175 pages).  And, I think (not sure), RFC 1812 was only that short
because people went back and updated RFCs (a chunk of Host Requirements was
text saying "oh, by the way, you MUST NOT do X and MUST do Y as documented
in paper Z").

Craig
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