[ih] What does TELNET stand for?

[John Day]

Just a nit of a typo only because it might confuse younger members of this list.

Steve meant, the paper for “Spring Joint Computer Conference” not Sprint. ;-) 

When computing graduated from one conference a year to two.  (I know hard to believe there were only two a year.)  ;-)

Take care,
John

> On Aug 23, 2025, at 09:48, Steve Crocker via Internet-history <internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
> 
> John, et al,
> 
> This question caught me by surprise.  I was directly involved in the design
> and development of the initial suite of protocols for the Arpanet.  The
> initial suite consisted of the Host-Host protocol, the Telnet protocol, and
> File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
> 
> An aside: The Host-Host Protocol later became known as the Network Control
> Protocol (NCP).  The acronym NCP originally meant Network Control Program,
> and it referred to the software that had to be added to the operating
> system to interact with the IMP and make access to the network available to
> user level processes in the time-shared systems.  Eventually, there was no
> need for a special term for that software and the term "Host-Host Protocol"
> was too bland.  People started referring to the protocol as the Network
> Control Protocol, and thus the meaning of "NCP" changed.
> 
> Even though I had been actively involved in the developments of those
> protocols, and even though I was first author on the 1972 Sprint Joint
> Computer Conference paper, the words "Teletype Network" or
> "Telecommunications Network" do not ring a bell for me.  A possible caveat:
> The Network Working Group grew from a handful of representatives from the
> first four sites in early 1969 to about fifty or so people attending the
> Network Working Group meetings in the next two years.  I remember realizing
> we needed to split our meetings into two parallel groups, one focused on
> the Hot-Host protocol and one focused on the application protocols.  I
> concentrated primarily on the Host-Host protocol and stepped back from the
> detailed development of the application protocols.
> 
> The first mention of "Telnet" in the RFC series is in RFC 97, A First Cut
> at a Proposed Telnet Protocol, by John Melvin and Richard Watson.  They
> were at SRI in Doug Engelbart's group, i.e.. the second node on the
> Arpanet, and hence an intimate part of the Network Working Group.
> 
> So far as I can recall, "Telnet" or "TELNET"sprang forth as an easy and
> natural designation for the remote terminal access protocol that we
> envisioned as one of the two initial application protocols.  I never
> thought of it as an acronym for a lengthier phrase.  I'm pretty sure we
> used the term "Telnet" in our informal NWG meetings.  By the time Melvin
> and Watson wrote RFC 97 in February 1971, the term was in common use within
> the group.
> 
> It's possible they created the word as an acronym of Terminal Network,
> Telephone Network, Telecommunications Network, or something similar.  It's
> equally possible they created the word as a nominal but unspecified acronym
> of one of those phrases.  To do better than I can, one would have to ask
> them.  (I think Watson is no longer with us.  I don't know about Melvin.)
> 
> In the 1972 paper, I agree with John Levine.  The phrase
> "Telecommunications Network" feels to me as a back formation of an
> appositive.  It's even possible I wrote that sentence, though I do not
> recall doing so.  Haefner, Metcalfe and Postel were the other co-authors.
> Postel is no longer available.  Metcalfe is, and I don't know about Haefner.
> 
> Bottom line: I can't say for sure whether "TELNET" was created as an
> acronym or as a free-standing word.  I'm inclined to believe it was the
> latter.  In any case, as best I can tell, the 1972 paper is the only time
> it was associated with "Telecommunications Network."
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> On Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 6:45 PM John Levine via Internet-history <
> internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
> 
>> This question came up on another list.
>> 
>> I have seen claims that it's Teletype Network or Telecommunications
>> Network, which smells like acronym reverse engineering to me.
>> 
>> Does it stand for anything?  Where did the name come from?
>> 
>> R's,
>> John
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