RFC 175

Comments on "Socket Conventions Reconsidered" 🎀

okay bestie, this is RFC 175 and it's giving 💖 Network Working Group, dated 11 June 1971. It's by E. Harslem and J. Heafner, both from Rand ✨ (the title block also lists NIC 7074). No category is listed, and it doesn't obsolete or update anything 🦋

Okay so Abhay, Bob, and Joel wrote RFC #167, "Socket Conventions Reconsidered," (see RFC #129, scheme #4) and we are SO on board with their conclusions 👑 Especially the part where NCP needs a major overhaul 😭🔥

Where we're not fully vibing with RFC #167 is the socket length (see RFC #164, page 21 🌸). There's an apparently serious TIP storage consideration, so Rand-assigned sockets will have the high-order 16 bits zero 🫶

For the particular programs Rand needs to access (current and pending 💅), repeatability of socket name (RFC #167, page 3) is not necessary for the user process. It's also not necessary for the server process, except for initial contact (ICP) sockets 🧚

Here's how we're currently using socket names, diagrammed below 🍓

    O           15 16             23 24          30 31
    ---------------------------------------------------
   |              |                 |              |   |
    ---------------------------------------------------
     ^              ^                 ^              ^
     |_ zero        |                 |              |_ gender
                    |                 |
                    |                 |_ zero for initial
                    |                    contact, otherwise
                    |                    dynamically assigned
                    |                    by 3rd level user
                    |                    program
                    |_ administratively assigned (fixed
                       and associated with programs)

NOTE: this scheme corresponds exactly with both UCSB and UCLA/CCN conventions 🌈

And the little archive note at the bottom, which BBN added when they put this into machine readable form for the online RFC archives 🧚‍♀️ (kept exactly as written):

[ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
[ into the online RFC archives by BBN Corp. under the   ]
[ direction of Alex McKenzie.                   12/96   ]