
Ask HN: Protocol Negotiation in Intergalactic Computer Network? - thenewsemi
A while back, I remember reading how back when they were working on the Intergalactic Network under Licklider, etc., one of the problems they tackled was how to have two computers negotiate a common protocol to communicate with each other. The problem, if I remember correctly, was framed as a first contact scenario of two alien civilizations.<p>I have now forgotten where I read this and can&#x27;t find any resource on whether they made any progress in this field. Any one has any idea what I am talking about here? Are there any publically available records of how much progress they made, which parts of the problem they were able to solve and what were those solutions?
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thedevindevops
I'm not sure if it has the one you're alluding to but there's a list of
projects on this page: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay-
tolerant_networking](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delay-tolerant_networking)
and an alternative here:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakernet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneakernet)

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thenewsemi
Thanks, but the problem was about figuring our a common language. They didn't
expect all computers to understand the same protocols and so wanted to make
something adaptable. I think Smalltalk, etc. came from that same philosophy.

