4 ms·
Ask HN: Protocol Negotiation in Intergalactic Computer Network?
A while back, I remember reading how back when they were working on the Intergalactic Network under Licklider, etc., one of the problems they tackled was how to have two computers negotiate a common protocol to communicate with each other. The problem, if I remember correctly, was framed as a first contact scenario of two alien civilizations.
I have now forgotten where I read this and can't find any resource on whether they made any progress in this field. Any one has any idea what I am talking about here? Are there any publically available records of how much progress they made, which parts of the problem they were able to solve and what were those solutions?
- thedevindevops 7y agoI'm not sure if it has the one you're alluding to but there's a list of projects on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay-tolerant_networking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay-tolerant_networking and an alternative here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakernet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakernet
- thenewsemi 7y agoThanks, but the problem was about figuring our a common language. They didn't expect all computers to understand the same protocols and so wanted to make something adaptable. I think Smalltalk, etc. came from that same philosophy.