From: keith@novell.com (Keith Brown)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.novell
Subject: Re: TCP/IP to replace IPX/SPX ?
Date: 6 Apr 92 04:21:51 GMT
Organization: Novell, Inc. San Jose, California

In article <q!mjntf.jbreeden@netcom.com> jbreeden@netcom.com (John Breeden) writes:
>I just don't know - but
>it is kind 'o interesting that you answered my question with a question ...
>you didn't work as a senator's aid in Washington, did ya? :-)

And I'm yet another Novell guy with yet more questions.

OK, OK... I think there's been enough schlomp in the press, some of it
from the mouths of our very own executive staff, about the fact we
are dabbling in the area of NetWare on TCP/IP, so thats no secret.
The hows and whens still are secret(ish) though so you have to understand
both Don and I have to be a little coy. Now then...

Suppose NetWare over IP transports looked just like NetWare over IPX
transports. Why would you want it (not you "jbreeden" particularly,
just "you" the planet at large)? Routing perhaps?? "Open"ness?? You
have a religious issue about TCP and IP and the openess everyone
believes it embodies and you think IPX is too chatty for wide area
networking and Novell own it and thats obviously a bad thing,
especially if your one of our competitors, so you march up and down
imposing your IP-centric view of the planet on the 3 or 4 people in
your office who just want to share a printer and you sit gnashing your
teeth watching "closed" IPX networking technology pounding its way
through a distribution mechanism the size of which defies the
imagination to people who who just want to get there jobs done better
and couldn't care less about you or your damn silly RFC's or your
stupid religious debates about whether IP routers should do firewall
filtering or if OSPF will replace RIP in the next 5 years. Sound familiar?
So whose the facist here, us or you?

Now, you may have your rump parked in the church of TCP/IP and, incidentally,
I may be sitting in the pew right next to you but, my question
to you is what's going to happen when the collection plate comes round?
Are alot of people going to cough some mumbled excuse about having to
leave early and slip out the back door *or* are the hands going to
go in the pockets and pull out a contribution to the new steeple?

Suppose our "evil" IPX in IP tunneling mechanism were to stay free and
NetWare on TCP/IP the way you want it were to cost a little extra, then what?

Just Curious? This is all hypothetical.

>If Lan Man has demonstrated anything... it's demonstrated that OEMs LOVE 
>network protocols that ride ONTOP of their favorite transports more that IN 
>their favorite transports ..... could be you guys are just picking up on that.

Nah. If LAN Man has demonstrated anything its how to make the best job of
embarrasing Microsoft and making their marketing staff look like complete
fools. "OS/2 is dead, long live LAN Manager!". Explain that one to me
please? The incredible thing though is that they did it to themselves!
I imagine young Mr Gates went into his marketing department and kicked
some bottom when that was going on. They're not all stupid up in Seattle :-)

>As the old saying goes...... tag - you're it :-)

Not anymore :-)

Keith
-
Keith Brown                                      Phone: (408) 473 8308
Novell San Jose Development Centre               Fax:   (408) 433 0775
2180 Fortune Dr, San Jose, California 95131      Net:   keith@novell.COM