Peter Gutmann wrote:
Jon Callas <jon(_at_)callas(_dot_)org> writes:
Postel said that, actually, long before there was any GNU except those one
might find in a zoo.
And before Jon Postel said that, the MIT hackers said "Look for anything that
says 'Don't to X', then try as many variations of X as possible. "Postel's
Law" is great for interoperability, terrible for security.
Thanks guys, I stand corrected! Perhaps it is better termed
"Postel's Proposition" because of the rather large exception
perhaps captured as "Bernstein's Anti-Corollary?"
I for one think that the Postel view is bad for
interoperability as well because it leads to a loose and
divergent community, which eventually leads to standards
wars. Oh joy...
iang