MKL@SRI-NIC.ARPA.UUCP (05/16/86)
Adding a port multiplexer can present some other problems: You then have to support both the reserved well-known-sockets and the multiplexed port in order to maintain compatability with what is already in use. Then you would have to try one first and if it fails try the other. This would be silly. For example, to send mail you might first try connecting to a hosts multiplexed port. If this failed then you would have to try a direct connection to port 25. So by adding multiplexed ports you would now have to program two different ways to try and make a connection. If you try connecting to port 25 first, you either get the connection or don't, so there is no real reason to have the multiplexer support the well-known-sockets. I think a multiplexed port protocol should ONLY support "unknown-sockets" and not the "well-known-sockets". A protocol of general use would still get a reserved port number. Any private or less useful protocols that were rejected a port number would have to use the port multiplexor. -------