Notes on the Internet for Bell Heads

Fri Jul 12 18:51:34 UTC 2002

> ... But there doesn't seem to
> >be anything that helps Bell heads understand what switching, routing
> >or signaling means on the Internet.  There are a lot of words which are
> >spelled alike, but mean very different things in the Bell world and the
> >Internet world.
> >
> >I've been thinking of it like driving in England or the USA.  We drive
> >on different sides of the road.  Its safe until you get someone who
> >doesn't know the rules of the road driving on the other side of the
> >Atlantic.  So how do you explain the rules of the Internet road to someone
> >used to driving on the telephone system?

Padlipsky's Elements of Networking Style may be the funiest technical
book ever written. It is a really vicious critique of the whole OSI
approach, written mid-80s. Some chapters are also available as RFCs,
I think 871-875.

"If you know what you're doing, three layers are enough. If not, even
 17 won't save you."