CEARLEY_K%UMS@VAXF.COLORADO.EDU (03/27/91)
> a new, simple API and write interface programs for all commercial stacks. > The acedemic community and friends would be responsible for the API > definition. We'ld also be responsible for the interface programs unless > sufficient concern was raised for a commercial response. I'm not clear on what an API would be providing with TCP/IP. How is an API different (in scope and goals) from a transport library interface like TLI, Sockets, RPC, TCF, etc? Is the scope limitted to a particular operating system, like PC/DOS, or a specific LAN interface, like NETBIOS, or are there concerns for serialization of data (e.g. XDR, OSI model) for speaking to different platforms? -Kent Cearley -University of Colorado, Boulder
sam@empery.ncsu.edu (Sam Moore) (03/27/91)
[ CEARLEY_K%UMS%VAXF.COLORADO.EDU@ohstvma.acs.ohio-state.edu] Writes: > > > a new, simple API and write interface programs for all commercial stacks. > > The acedemic community and friends would be responsible for the API > > definition. We'ld also be responsible for the interface programs unless > > sufficient concern was raised for a commercial response. > > I'm not clear on what an API would be providing with TCP/IP. How is an API > different (in scope and goals) from a transport library interface like TLI, > Sockets, RPC, TCF, etc? Is the scope limitted to a particular operating > system, like PC/DOS, or a specific LAN interface, like NETBIOS, or are there > concerns for serialization of data (e.g. XDR, OSI model) for speaking to > different platforms? > > -Kent Cearley > -University of Colorado, Boulder > Seems like too much work at too late a time. The socket interface should be sufficient for doing most things. The problem is having the same code run with any vendors "kernel". If I compile a program with my DOSIP BSD sockets library and send it over to a friend running FTP's kernel, then it won't run. Will vendors create a common kernel interface? Probably isn't worth their time. The problem is the operating system. It just isn't cost affective to run a PC as a workstation. The user interface is a mess. There is no common interface to the operating system, because there isn't an operating system. Try running X11 on the common display. Try beefing a PC up to have X11, TCP/IP and local applications that work together and you have a problem - MSDOS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | Sam Moore | Sam_Moore@ncsu.edu | NCSU Computing Center | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------