hi folks, ok... this is way OT. but I thought I'd put this question to the most knowledgable group of people I know...
I have to give a lecture on the history of timekeeping technologies. I want to end with late c.20/ early c21 technologies of synchronized timekeeping. GPS is one obvious example, NTP is another. But puttingthe lecture together I realized I don'trelaly understand why it's important for computer networks to have fine-grain synchronization. So I thought I'd ask some geeks (as my sig says, I'm only a hemi-geek): why does a network need careful clock synchronization? Are packets like railroad cars -- in the sense that it's VERY important to know which got sent first, and which is ocming next -- and if you screw up the timeable, you get a catastrophe? Or is there more flexibility in the system? anyway, it's just a question. I'd love to hear some answers. thanks, matt -------------------------- .''`. Matt Price : :' : Debian User `. `'` & hemi-geek `- -------------------------- if you're an evil spambot, these addresses are for you: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]