> Subject: Re: APRS for Linux?
> Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 00:35:24 -0500
> From: Steve Dimse K4HG <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> [...]
> If they
> threw out the IP protocol and started over, then all the routers on the
> internet would need to be upgraded, wouldn't they?
> [...]
Yes. It's called IPv6. So if something as big as the Internet can
[claim to] change...
> Per Bob, the primary reason is that if people could modify the code and
> get on the air, the protocol would break down. And he does have a point.
> Given the present state of the documentation on the protocol, and the way
> he changes it when he feels the urge, it is hard enough for the four
> major versions (Mac/WinAPRS [common codebase], APRSdos, APRS+SA, and
> javAPRS) to keep in sync. The more authors in a situation like that, the
> more chances for confusion. My argument that the answer is not to lock up
> the source code, but rather to formalize the protocol, has fallen on deaf
> ears.
The success of the Internet demonstrates that well-documented protocol
specifications can result in a multitude of interoperating implementations.
(Never mind that nearly all host implementations are derived from
BSD...)
> Money is the other less often admitted reason he opposes source code
> release.
-tjs
