[ih] What does TELNET stand for?

[John Day]

Okay, that may have been. I just know that ACM went from NCC, National Computer Conference to Fall and Spring.

So there was an East and West Coast conference starting in the 50s?  Interesting. By ACM.  What were they called. I can’t say I have ever seen them referenced.

Have to do some digging.

Thanks,
John

> On Aug 23, 2025, at 11:05, gsteemso <48bitsorbust at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> A nitpick of a nit:  AFAIK there were two conferences ever since they started in the 1950s [except for a single year where one was skipped], it's just they were originally "East" and "West" rather than "Spring" and "Fall".
> 
> Gordon S.
> 
>> On Aug 23, 2025, at 7:23 AM, John Day via Internet-history <internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
>> 
>> 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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