Honestly friend, I think you're both correct. You're correct in that TCP and IP are the product of smart, driven design decisions. The people you're arguing wit

Honestly friend, I think you're both correct. You're correct in that TCP and IP are the product of smart, driven design decisions. The people you're arguing with are correct in that the internet won a standards war so other protocols disappeared. The standards war wasn't always fought over technical merits and philosophy/politics were both part of it.