RFC1121

Network Working Group J. Postel (ISI) Request for Comments: 1121 L. Kleinrock (UCLA)

                                                          V. Cerf (NRI)
                                                        B. Boehm (UCLA)
                                                         September 1989

                         Act One - The Poems

Status of this Memo

  This RFC presents a collection of poems that were presented at "Act
  One", a symposium held partially in celebration of the 20th
  anniversary of the ARPANET.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Introduction

  The Computer Science Department of the University of California, Los
  Angeles (UCLA) organized a Symposium on Very High Speed Information
  Networks as the first in a projected series of meetings on Advanced
  Computer Technologies, thus ACT ONE.  The time was chosen to also
  commemorate the 20th anniversary of the installation of the first
  Interface Message Processor (IMP) on the ARPANET which took place at
  UCLA.

  The Symposium took on a theatrical theme and a few of the speakers
  could not resist the temptation to commit poetry.  This memo is an
  attempt to capture the result.

The Poems

                                 WELCOME
                                   by
                            Leonard Kleinrock

  We've gathered here for two days to examine and debate
  And reflect on data networks and as well to celebrate.
  To recognize the leaders and recount the path we took.
  We'll begin with how it happened; for it's time to take a look.

  Yes, the history is legend and the pioneers are here.
  Listen to the story - it's our job to make it clear.
  We'll tell you where we are now and where we'll likely go.
  So welcome to ACT ONE, folks.  Sit back - enjoy the show!!

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RFC 1121 Act One - The Poems September 1989

                             ODE TO A QUEUE
                                   by
                            Leonard Kleinrock

                  In the 20 years of funding
                  Many fields has DARPA led.
                  But the finest thing that they did bring
                  Was the analytic thread.

                  By that I mean they nurtured
                  Quantitative research tools.
                  And they always felt for all their gelt
                  They got principles and rules.

                  Indeed a wealth of knowledge
                  Was uncovered and was new.
                  And the common thread with which we led
                  Was the analytic queue!

                  Now a queue may have one server.
                  If there's more, they form a team.
                  Its dearest wish is just to fish
                  In a quiet Poisson stream.

                  If you want to model networks
                  Or a complex data flow
                  A queue's the key to help you see
                  All the things you need to know.

                  So the next time you feel lonely
                  And wonder what to do,
                  You'll soon feel fine if you join the line
                  Of an analytic queue!

                          THE PAST IS PROLOGUE
                                   by
                            Leonard Kleinrock

                  The past is prologue so they say.
                  So Scene 1 was played today.
                  It set the stage to point the way
                  To high speed nets on Friday.

                  And old slow IMP, a costly link,
                  Codes to fix the lines that stink,
                  Ideas born in tanks that think,
                  Tomorrow's distance sure to shrink.

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RFC 1121 Act One - The Poems September 1989

                  But first tonight we'll drink and eat.
                  We'll take some time good friends to greet.
                  Hear Bible class from Danny's seat.
                  Those good old days were bittersweet!

                              THE BIG BANG!
                      (or the birth of the ARPANET)
                                   by
                            Leonard Kleinrock

  It was back in '67 that the clan agreed to meet.
  The gangsters and the planners were a breed damned hard to beat.
  The goal we set was honest and the need was clear to all:
  Connect those big old mainframes and the minis, lest they fall.

  The spec was set quite rigid:  it must work without a hitch.
  It should stand a single failure with an unattended switch.
  Files at hefty throughput 'cross the ARPANET must zip.
  Send the interactive traffic on a quarter second trip.

  The spec went out to bidders and t'was BBN that won.
  They worked on soft and hardware and they all got paid for fun.
  We decided that the first node would be we who are your hosts
  And so today you're gathered here while UCLA boasts.

  I suspect you might be asking "What means FIRST node on the net?"
  Well frankly, it meant trouble, 'specially since no specs were set.
  For you see the interface between the nascent IMP and HOST
  Was a confidential secret from us folks on the West coast.

  BBN had promised that the IMP was running late.
  We welcomed any slippage in the deadly scheduled date.
  But one day after Labor Day, it was plopped down at our gate!
  Those dirty rotten scoundrels sent the damned thing out air freight!

  As I recall that Tuesday, it makes me want to cry.
  Everybody's brother came to blame the other guy!
  Folks were there from ARPA, GTE and Honeywell.
  UCLA and ATT and all were scared as hell.

  We cautiously connected and the bits began to flow.
  The pieces really functioned - just why I still don't know.
  Messages were moving pretty well by Wednesday morn.
  All the rest is history - packet switching had been born!

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RFC 1121 Act One - The Poems September 1989

                        ROSENCRANTZ AND ETHERNET
                                   by
                                Vint Cerf

  All the world's a net!  And all the data in it merely packets
  come to store-and-forward in the queues a while and then are
  heard no more.  'Tis a network waiting to be switched!

  To switch or not to switch?  That is the question.  Whether
  'tis wiser in the net to suffer the store and forward of
  stochastic networks or to raise up circuits against a sea
  of packets and, by dedication, serve them.

  To net, to switch.  To switch, perchance to slip!
  Aye, there's the rub.  For in that choice of switch,
  what loops may lurk, when we have shuffled through
  this Banyan net?  Puzzles the will, initiates symposia,
  stirs endless debate and gives rise to uncontrolled
  flights of poetry beyond recompense!

                                UNTITLED
                                   by
                               Barry Boehm

                  Paul Baran came out of the wood
                  With a message first misunderstood
                     But despite dangers lurking
                     The IMP's were soon working
                  And ARPA did see it was good.

                  So in place of our early myopia
                  We now have a net cornucopia
                     With IMP's, TIP's, and LAN's
                     Wideband VAN's, MAN's, and WAN's
                  And prospects of World Net Utopia.

                  But though we must wind up the clock
                  With thoughts of downstream feature shock
                     We all be can mollified
                     For there's no one more qualified
                  To discuss this than Leonard Kleinrock.

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RFC 1121 Act One - The Poems September 1989

Notes

  The Symposium was held August 17 & 18, 1989, a Thursday and Friday.

  "Welcome" was presented on Thursday morning during the Overture.

  "Ode to a Queue" was presented in the Thursday morning session on
  "Giant Steps Forward: Technology Payoffs".

  "The Past is Prologue" was presented at the end of the Thursday
  afternoon sessions.

  "The Big Bang!" was presented during the after dinner events on
  Thursday night.

  "Rosencrantz and Ethernet" was presented at the morning session on
  Friday on "Communication Technologies in the next Millenium" (note
  that this version may differ slightly from the actual presentation
  since it was reconstructed from human memory several weeks later).

  The untitled poem by Barry Boehm was presented in the Friday
  afternoon session on "Impact on Government, Commerce and Citizenry".
  Barry gave his talk on "The Software Challenge to Our Technical
  Aspirations" then introduced the next speaker with this poem.

Security Considerations

  None.

Authors' Addresses

  Jon Postel
  USC/Information Sciences Institute
  4676 Admiralty Way
  Marina del Rey,  CA  90292-6695

  Phone: 213-822-1511

  EMail: [email protected]

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RFC 1121 Act One - The Poems September 1989

  Leonard Kleinrock
  University of California
  Computer Science Department
  3732G Boelter Hall
  Los Angeles, CA 90024-1600

  Phone: 213-825-2543

  EMail: [email protected]

  Vinton G. Cerf
  Corporation for National Research Initiatives
  1895 Preston White Drive, Suite 100
  Reston, VA 22091

  Phone: 703-620-8990

  EMail: [email protected]

  Barry Boehm
  University of California
  Computer Science Department
  3732 Boelter Hall
  Los Angeles, CA 90024-1600

  Phone: 213-825-8137

  EMail: [email protected]

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