Stargates (In Defense of J.F.)

Sun May 26 19:25:54 UTC 1996

Excuse me just a little, but I would like to follow-up on the
Bush-o-Gram with regard to Jim Fleming and others whom Randy
would love to silence in this world.

I have read some of Jim's posts on his ideas of StarGates,
Galaxies and his idea of IPv8; and I'll be the first to admit
that I haven't taken the time to visit Jim's WWW site and
read his proposals and ideas.  They do seem to be a radical
departure from the current way the IP world is moving; but I
can't say, because I have not actually read Jim's concepts
in any detail, so it is impossible to express any technical
or engineering opinion accuractly.

But..... on the other hand ...

Jim Fleming certainly has the right to dream and envision his
ideas in hopes of discovering  'A Better Paradigm' for scalable
global IP internetworking and to present those ideas in IETF WGs
and in NANOG, because his proposals relate directly to IP internetworking
and IP operations.

\begin{soapbox}

When we become a group of scientists and engineers who remain closed 
to new ideas, no matter how radical they seem today, we become of the
same mindset of those we choose change when our ideas were 'new'.

I applaud Jim for having the courage and conviction to express his
ideas, however much we may disagree with them.  I also give him
credit for not resorting to personal attacks when he is flamed
for advocating a somewhat 'revolutionary' approach.

IMO, it does not matter if we are talking the US Bill of Rights,
Internet Services, scientific theories, theological views, or
ideas of ethics and family, people deserve our respect; and that
includes those who present ideas and concepts that depart from
what is considered socially acceptable.

It took me 40 years of mistakes to realize that little gem of
wisdom above and my life is much, much happier not carrying
the baggage of others anger and frustration.

Those whom wish to "|/dev/null" all ideas and opinions that differ
from there own personal perspective only damage themselves in
the long run.

Those whom disagree with my ideas, either technical or otherwise,
are free to disagree.  Those whom do not wish to read my opinions
or theories are welcome to discard them, and make yourself happy
at the same time.

But please, please do not associate your anger and frustration
toward me with others and pull them into the low-road discussions.
Jim's ideas are worthy of consideration, and I am the first to
apologize for not taking the time to review them, no matter
how radical the terms 'StarGate and Galaxy' seem.

\en{soapbox}

Better ideas on building the next frontier welcome!  Or, as suggested,
have we reached the end off all secular knowledge in 1996 ;-) 

Rhetorically Speaking...

Now back to blasting the failure of the MAE-WEST RS, and all the
*very interesting*, "I told you so"s and "at-a-boys".

Best Regards,

Tim

PS:  Note to Jim Fleming.... what was that URL of your ideas?  I am
     inclined to read them now that we share the *heat* of the
     "Burning Bush" together :-)