cdh%BBN-UNIX@sri-unix.UUCP (01/10/84)
From: Carl D. Howe <cdh@BBN-UNIX>
I'd like to clear up a little confusion that seems to
arise periodically when talking about the "networking extensions
provided by BSD 4.2." Yes, those extensions were very nontrivial.
They were also not done by Berkeley; the VAX TCP implementation
was done under DARPA contract here at BBN by Rob Gurwitz. The
networking code was then distributed to ARPA sites, the first of
which was Berkeley. There Bill Joy incorporated the code into
4.2. Still, the vast majority of that code was NOT written by
Berkeley, yet is often attributed to them.
I wouldn't quibble except for the fact that the SUN
salesman recently came to BBN and proceeded to crow about Bill
Joy's great TCP implementation in Berkeley 4.2. That network
code was a lot of work and is still one of the best TCP
implementations available to date; it seems a shame that it's
author and origin seems to have been forgotten.
To defend Bill Joy's good name, I've never heard him
claim credit for the code; it just seems that other people tend
to attribute anything good in UNIX to him.
Thanks for listening,
Carl