ietf-openpgp
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Packet length: header vs. context

2007-01-08 10:46:47

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