michael@xanadu.com (Michael McClary) (07/06/90)
When the new group comp.protocols.time.ntp appeared at our site, I thought "Oh, boy. Now I can find out about the state-of-the-art in network time service, and watch it evolve." When the administrivia in the first couple messages included the primary distribution list from the mailing-list incarnation, I was duly impressed both by its size and by the prestige of some of the entries. I settled back in eager anticipation, to await enough postings for me to pick up the thread. We have now received 18, and I now realize that, while the technology developed, the jargon developed with it. Tickers and tockers. Honkers and quackers. Fuzzballs and weenies and pelts (Oh, my!). Is a chronon a joke, or a visualization of the propagation of a time-shift? Is a "timequake" when (something) wraps around at 128 a joke, or a real network phenomenon? (Perhaps it's something analogous to the chaos that can strike a power grid when things get too far out-of-sync?) Jargon development is to be expected, and (given a glossary) it is probably a GOOD THING. By coining such terms, your vocabulary is uncluttered with previous word-meanings which would cloud people's understanding of the concepts. Nevertheless, without such a glossary, you have created a foreign language. Congratulations. You have the most impenetrable jargon I have encountered in a public technical discussion in 23 years as a professional computer programmer. (I await the publication of the Xanadu internals, so we can see who gets the prize. B-) ) Perhaps, now that the group's distribution has stabilized a bit, one of you might post such a glossary. (If you don't have one made up already, you can easily start one. Just look at the first postings on this group, and explain each word that isn't used in its dictionary sense.) Another thing that might be helpful is a posting of the current reference document set for NTP, or a pointer to an archive site. (I'd recommend the actual document, just this once.) Thanks in advance, and have a good time. B-)