[COFF] ARPAnet now 4 nodes

[jnc at mercury.lcs.mit.edu (Noel Chiappa)]

    > From: Lars Brinkhoff

    >> PARC's MAXC appears in the mid-1970s.

    > Maybe this is a good time to ask if anyone knows whether any of those
    > diverse systems has software preserved? Specifically, the
    > implementation of the NCP and 1822 Host-to-IMP protocols?

Both MAXC's were PDP-10 re-implementations, and ran TENEX. So the basic
system is still around, not sure if they had any interesting local hacks
(well, probably PUP support; MIT tried to put it in MIT-XX, so it may
still exist on thats backup tapes).


    > From: Rob Gingell gingell at computer.org 

    > A collection of maps of the ARPAnet over time is available from the 
    > Computer History Museum

Interesting; I also have a large collection of maps:

  http://mercury.lcs.mit.edu/~jnc/tech/arpanet.html#Maps

all with hi-res versions (click on the thumbnails). Some of the ones
at the CHM I don't have, but the coverage time-wise is similar.

I also have a modest collection of hosts.txt files, ranging from 
Jul-77 to Apr-94.

    > I've forgotten at this point whether the assignments were documented in
    > RFCs or other assigned numbers documents from the Network Information Center

The first 'Assigned numbers' RFC was #739, from November 1977. It never
contained host addresses. There were a very few early RFC's which contained
host adresses (#226, #229, #236), but pretty quickly host addresses were done
via the hosts.txt file, distributed from the NIC. (Given the churn rate, using
RFC's didn't make sense.) Early RFCs about this are #606 and #627.  There were
a bunch of RFC's that reported on 'host status' (e.g. how their software was
doing), but their goal was different.


PS: A number of people are leaving out the definite article before 'ARPANET';
this seems to be popular these days (especially in the UK it seems, not sure
why), but it is incorrect. 

Also, the correct spelling is all capitals (check e.g. through old RFCs).
Until of course the AP gets their hands on it (I'm breathlessly awaiting
their announcement that the U.S. President's reference is to be referred
to as the 'white house').

	Noel