On 9/6/06, Keith Moore <moore@cs.utk.edu> wrote:
Of course it's useful to be able to run SMTP, HTTP, etc. over other transports for special purposes. But a distinction needs to be made between "SMTP specification" and "how to send Internet email", and between "HTTP specification" and "how to make web resources available to the public and how to access them".
I don't think we disagree, and both specs say "usually over TCP" anyway.
However the utility of many applications is dependent on there being a large number of servers that arbitrary clients can talk to, and in those cases too many degrees of freedom regarding which stack to use degrades interoperability.
The IETF doesn't have the ability to remove any degrees of freedom. The IETF can increase the number of dependencies to the point that there will be lots HTTP-Over-Foo specs, and lots of duplication (and variation in non-transport areas). The IETF can also provide compelling solutions like TCP/IP so that most implementers never consider anything else. I suppose I would phrase "too many degrees of freedom" as "nothing but poor standards". Provide an adequate solution that's simple enough to be ubiquitous and you get critical mass. -- Robert Sayre _______________________________________________ Ietf mailing list Ietf@ietf.org https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf
