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rfc: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!!

Postel & Kleinrock & Cerf & Boehm [Page 1] 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.

Postel & Kleinrock & Cerf & Boehm [Page 2] 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!

Postel & Kleinrock & Cerf & Boehm [Page 3] 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.

Postel & Kleinrock & Cerf & Boehm [Page 4] 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: Postel@ISI.EDU

Postel & Kleinrock & Cerf & Boehm [Page 5] 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: lk@CS.UCLA.EDU
 Vinton G. Cerf
 Corporation for National Research Initiatives
 1895 Preston White Drive, Suite 100
 Reston, VA 22091
 Phone: 703-620-8990
 EMail: VCerf@NRI.RESTON.VA.US
 Barry Boehm
 University of California
 Computer Science Department
 3732 Boelter Hall
 Los Angeles, CA 90024-1600
 Phone: 213-825-8137
 EMail: boehm@CS.UCLA.EDU

Postel & Kleinrock & Cerf & Boehm [Page 6]

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