[ih] A revolution in Internet point-of-view - Was Re: Internet analyses (Was Re: IPv8...)

[Dave Crocker]

On 5/10/2026 7:18 PM, Steve Crocker via Internet-history wrote:
> Free and open source software became a
> thing as did a variety of software licenses.


While IBM and others charged an enormous amount for use of software, 
within the Arpanet/Internet community software developed by that 
community was typically freely shared. There are many example of this 
happening and major benefit because of it.

I'll cite two.

One was Vittal's MSG program -- the first email program to include the 
reply function.  My subjective sense was that email use quickly 
increased exponentially, since that command permitted much easier 
conduct of an extended email discussion.

The other was the mail system we built at Rand (MS 
<https://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R2134.html>) and the ensuing 
developments because it and some of its descendants were freely shared.

    The impact email work done at The Rand Corporation in the mid-1970’s
    <https://bbiw.net/recent.html#RandImpact>

And the chart only captures significant software development arcs.  So, 
for example, it does not include the significant MCI Mail gateway example.

Some of these were commercial ventures, starting with the free software, 
doing enhancements, and building a business based on it.

The most amusing example, for me, was the UK ISODE product. While I was 
running Engineering at The Wollongong Group, in Palo Alto, we wanted to 
add an X.400 offering to our inventory.  (For reference, taking a 
text-based Arpanet/Internet email transport product and making it 
support X.400 is, IMO, an impressive accomplishment.  And, just to 
inject this, I'll note that I think Microsoft is the only one to succeed 
at the reverse sequence.)

We landed on ISODE's version.  After we got a copy and cycled up a team 
to support of the product, one of the engineers came into my office and 
asked whether I also worked for ISODE.  Color me entirely confused.  I 
asked why they were asking.  They said my name was all over lots of the 
routines.


d/

-- 
Dave Crocker

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