jep@oink.UUCP (James E. Prior) (05/27/89)
Please let me know what, if anything, there is that can explain the ISO stuff to mere mortals like myself. I'd appreciate opinions, both favorable and unfavorable, of books, articles, seminars, etc. I'm looking at various protocols for use by my company. I don't have any dox on the ISO stuff. I'm sure I can get official dox for it, but based on my past experience with official documents, I'm scared to death of them. I've seen official documents of other protocols that I couldn't understand at all. Only after I learn a protocol, can I understand any of the official document for it. Even then, much imagination and quessing of intent is required. Thanks, -- Jim Prior jep@oink osu-cis!n8emr!oink!jep N8KSM
tozz@hpindda.HP.COM (Bob Tausworthe) (05/31/89)
/ hpindda:comp.protocols.iso / jep@oink.UUCP (James E. Prior) / 12:07 pm May 26, 1989 /
Please let me know what, if anything, there is that can explain the
ISO stuff to mere mortals like myself. I'd appreciate opinions,
both favorable and unfavorable, of books, articles, seminars, etc.
"Data and Computer Communications", William Stallings.
Second Edition
This book is a pretty good primer on ISO protocols. Be sure to
get the second (yellow) edition. The first (blue) edition is not
as complete.
bob tausworthe
tozz@hpda.hp.comS.Wilson@EDINBURGH.AC.UK (06/01/89)
I can partly recommend "OSI Explained: End-to-end computer
communications standards" by John Henshall and Sandy Shaw. I can only
partly recommend it because I've only read part of it! What I have read
is good and it has had good reviews. It is written by two colleagues
whose offices are about 30 feet from here so I must express a kind of
interest, though not financial. The authors are working on a second
edition.
"OSI Explained" is published in the UK by Ellis Horwood and distributed
(presumably outside the UK - I know it's available in N.America) by
Halsted Press, a division of John Wiley and Sons (it says here).
ISBN of Ellis Horwood edition: 0-7458-0253-2
of Halsted Press edition: 0-470-21100-8
Following is a quotation from A.A.Milne's 'The House at Pooh Corner'
included in Preface:
Owl explained about the Necessary Dorsal Muscles. He had explained
this to Pooh and Christopher Robin once before, and had been
waiting ever since for a chance to do it again, because it is a
thing which you can easily explain twice before anyone knows what
you are talking about.
Sam Wilson
Edinburgh University Computing Service
Scotland, UKmartillo@cpoint.UUCP (Joachim Carlo Santos Martillo) (06/06/89)
In article <5560023@hpindda.HP.COM> tozz@hpindda.HP.COM (Bob Tausworthe) writes: >/ hpindda:comp.protocols.iso / jep@oink.UUCP (James E. Prior) / 12:07 pm May 26, 1989 / >Please let me know what, if anything, there is that can explain the >ISO stuff to mere mortals like myself. I'd appreciate opinions, >both favorable and unfavorable, of books, articles, seminars, etc. > "Data and Computer Communications", William Stallings. > Second Edition > > This book is a pretty good primer on ISO protocols. Be sure to > get the second (yellow) edition. The first (blue) edition is not > as complete. > bob tausworthe > tozz@hpda.hp.com You should not be so hard on yourself. ISO OSI is designed by committees. Clarity of system architecture and definition requires that the architect or designer really understand what he is trying to architect or define. It is not clear that the ISO committees collectively really understand what they are trying to architect or define. In fact, even if an individual on a committee really understands what he is trying to architect or define, it is extremely unlikely that he would be able to get his point of view across to the committee and as a consequence there is little likelihood of any sort of lucidity appearing in documents produced in such a forum.
A.Turland@CS.UCL.AC.UK (Alan Turland) (06/12/89)
> You should not be so hard on yourself. ISO OSI is designed by > committees. Clarity of system architecture and definition requires > that the architect or designer really understand what he is trying to > architect or define. It is not clear that the ISO committees > collectively really understand what they are trying to architect or > define. In fact, even if an individual on a committee really > understands what he is trying to architect or define, it is extremely > unlikely that he would be able to get his point of view across to the > committee and as a consequence there is little likelihood of any sort > of lucidity appearing in documents produced in such a forum. Not that i disagree with your sentiments, but there are obvious questions which follows from your statement: If an individual understands what s/he is trying to define why is it "extremely unlikely" that s/he would be able explain this inside a committee? [The ability to explain a concept is part of a good understanding of that concept] and Given that it is "extremely unlikely" that this hypothetical individual would get the point across in a committee of people supposedly interested in understanding the same problem, why would they be able to get the point across outside a committee? I do not believe that there are people who have a full understanding of what they are trying to define (good understandings are rare enough) and that cooperative development of ideas is essential. A question that interests me is how do we cooperatively develop understanding / architectures / definitions; without falling into the problems most committee structures fall into. A "head-chef" solution isn't the only alternative to "too-many-cooks", and may not be a solution at all! alan.