This RFC suggests a proposed protocol for the ARPA-Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
M.A. Padlipsky · 1984
The broad outline of the Host-Front End Protocol introduced here and described in RFC 929 is the result of the deliberations of a number of experienced H-FP designers, who sat as a committee of the DoD Protocol Standards Technical Panel under the author’s chairmanship. The particular protocol to be described is, however, the result of the deliberations of a small, ad hoc group, who sat as a de facto subcommittee of the H-FP committee, also under the author’s chairmanship. The protocol, then, follows the consensus of the full group as to what the new H-FP should look like, but has not benefitted from painstaking study by a large number of experienced H-FP designers and implementers. (It has been looked at before release as an RFC by several of them, though.) Even if that were not the case, it would still be the intent of the designers that the protocol be subjected to multiple test implementations and probable iteration before being agreed upon as any sort of standard. Therefore, the first order of business is to declare that THIS IS A PROPOSAL, NOT A FINAL STANDARD, and the second order of business is to request that any readers of these documents who are able to do test implementations (a) do so and (b) coordinate their efforts with the author (617-271-2978 or [email protected].).