On Wed, 19 Jul 2000, Matt Kozera wrote:
> Jamie Honan wrote:
> Hello there Jamie, thanks for your input ! I guess i'm not doing this
> for any kind of formal study, (although it wouldnt hurt). I just i'd
> just like a good "how the internet works" books without too much silly
> crap. Would DNS and all this be covered ? When I think of TCPIP i'm
> really thinking about all this OSI stuff, layers, etc .. doesn't
> really seem to be my interest right now. The practical usable
> information maybe, how useful is knowing so and so has seven layers ?
> I hope you see what i'm getting at .. is your first book
> recommendation suitable for these needs or would you rather change
> your recommendation for me ?
I think probably the NAG, the Crab book or TCP/IP Illustrated is
what you want.
Maybe you mean what happens when I start up my browser, what is
my machine doing, what happens to the packets my machine
sends out? The fact a browser has to look up a name in a DNS
server (and how did it know where the DNS server is, and how
does it know how to reach it?)
This actually would be a terrific approach to the subject
(almost like a picture book). Eric? Want to make a best seller?
On a broader scale, your questions are a bit disturbing.
How does the internet work? (without "too much silly crap").
I've been asked similar questions before. "Why doesn't someone
put out a magazine that explains computers in simple language
without all the crap?" was one lament I recall.
"The practical usable information maybe, how useful is knowing so and so
has seven layers?" You are right in one sense, seven layers is a load
of crap. (Everyone knows that the really important layers are eight
and nine: politics and finance :)
Practical and useful. No crap.
I confess I can't answer this, I just don't know how to.
It is easy to give a gratuitous and perhaps insulting answer, but
I don't think it really answers a deceptively simple
question.
Grasshopper says:
Many have promised what you are seeking, but the true road
to enlightenment is neither quick nor easy.
That's the best I can do for now, but it's also wrong.
Jamie
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