The Elements of Networking Style
by M. A. Padlipsky · first published 1984
89% recommend11% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Witty, opinionated essays critiquing networking reference models like OSI against the ARPANET and TCP/IP approach; useful for readers who want the history and reasoning behind how the internet was designed.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…(chicken and egg, you might need to buy a CD or a tape to get them to your systems), made a very big difference. If you're really interested in all this, I highly recommend Padlipsky's very opinionated "The Elements of Networking Style: And Other Essays & Animadversions on the Art of Intercomputer Networking" (http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Networking-Style-Animadversio...), a very colorful work with rhetorical gems like "gilding the…
on “OSI: The Internet That Wasn’t” ↗Scaling is not a goal of the OSI model, and TCP/IP predates (and does not adhere to) the OSI model anyway. For insight into how and why this came about, I recommend Padlipsky's "The Elements of Networking Style."
on “The Lightning Network: Turning Bitcoin into Money” ↗BTW, the best read in networking is "The Elements of Networking Style" by Mike Padlipsky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Padlipsky It's hard to find a copy of that book but oh, man, if you know the stack and you lived through the ISO/OSI proposals, it's so so…
on “The world in which IPv6 was a good design” ↗You might like Mike Padlipsky's Elements of Networking Style. Out of print but so worth a read.
on “Joyce K. Reynolds, co-editor of RFCs, has died” ↗…Innovations in Internetworking (https://www.amazon.com/Innovations-Internetworking-Artech-Te...) is a great collection of papers that help you understand the original thinking behind each protocol The Elements of Networking Style (https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Networking-Style-Animadversi...) explains why you see only 4 layers in the real Internet while ISO slices it into 7 and all the fun parts os standard bodies while retaining…
on “Ask HN: Where can one learn about the history of the internet and the protocols?” ↗The Elements of Networking Style, by Michael Padlipsky - an (extremely!) opinionated critique of the OSI model vs the Arpanet (TCP/IP) model.
on “Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?” ↗Two of my favourites; * Confessions of a Used Program Salesman: Institutionalizing Software Reuse by Will Tracz. * The Elements of Networking Style: And Other Essays & Animadversions on the Art of Intercomputer Networking by Mike Padlipsky.
on “Quirky computing books” ↗…vain [1]. I'm surprised you did not mention his work. Defining and critiquing the reference models in the case of the ARPAnet and OSI was his thing. Much of it was published in a (quite funny) book The Elements of Networking Style[2], partially taken from some of his RFCs. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Padlipsky [2] https://archive.org/details/elementsofnetwor00padl
on “The OSI Deprogrammer” ↗…sacred seven layers." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19866389 Pfff, TCP/IP will never succeed. It doesn't have enough layers! /s https://archive.org/details/elementsofnetwor00padl "The Book": The Elements of Networking Style: And Other Essays & Animadversions of the Art of Intercomputer Networking, by M. A. Padlipsky (1985) The World's Only Know Constructively Snotty Computer Science Book: historically, its polemics for…
on “The Lightning Network: Turning Bitcoin into Money” ↗…https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/412167.Foxtales about how software was developed in the midwest free of all the fashion/hipsterism currently in vogue and building a community of users for your software The elements of networking style: If you ever wanted to know the politics of how networking RFCs are made: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2298785.The_Elements_of_... and design choices made to build modern day internet Unwritten…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗Pfff, TCP/IP will never succeed. It doesn't have enough layers! /s https://archive.org/details/elementsofnetwor00padl "The Book": The Elements of Networking Style: And Other Essays & Animadversions of the Art of Intercomputer Networking, by M. A. Padlipsky (1985) The World's Only Know Constructively Snotty Computer Science Book: historically, its polemics for…
on “Amazon S3 Path Deprecation Plan – The Rest of the Story” ↗I was hoping someone (else) would mention Padlipsky. In my dissertation, Elements of Networking Style is the reference for the OSI section (which was needed because everybody is still using the damn terminology).
on “OSI: The Internet That Wasn’t” ↗See also https://archive.org/details/elementsofnetwor00padl The Elements of Networking Style.
on “The world in which IPv6 was a good design (2017)” ↗