Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rutgers!labrea!decwrl!decvax!ucbvax!CCQ.BBN.COM!pogran From: pogran@CCQ.BBN.COM (Ken Pogran) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip Subject: Re: Berkeley (not Wollongong) telnet and new line processing Message-ID: <8707221308.AA29050@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: Wed, 22-Jul-87 08:27:01 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8707221308.AA29050 Posted: Wed Jul 22 08:27:01 1987 Date-Received: Fri, 24-Jul-87 04:18:56 EDT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: world Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 27 John, Your elucidation of the handling of line-termination characters in TELNET is the best I've seen in a long time; congratulations! On the other hand, it's unfortunate that after so many years it still needs to be explained! TELNET's careful handling of the various line-termination possibilities is one of the "great compromises" of the relatively early days of the ARPANET (the bit-serial 1822 interface, accomodating computers with the bewildering array of word sizes found in late '60s - early '70s machines, being another). It arose through the efforts of the IBM EBCDIC-newline-physical- half-duplex, Multics LF-is-newline (from which UNIX got its idea of newline) and various DEC (and other) you-CR-and-I'll-echo-the-LF camps to develop something that would work for everyone and that was easily converted at each end of the connection. That different systems STILL have different conventions (UNIX vs VMS, for example) after all this time underscores the importance of the TELNET ASCII compromise -- as well as the importance of implementing it correctly. Thanks, John, for your explanation. Regards, Ken Pogran