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Network Working Group                                      W. KantrowitzRequest for Comments: 514                                        LL TX-2NIC: 16445                                                   5 June 1973Updates: RFC459                           NETWORK MAKE-WORK   The ARPA Network seems to have developed the proclivity of dragging   compulsive collectors and organizers out of the woodwork and placing   them in the forefront to annoy everybody.   Recent occurrences have been:   1. A set of charts on characteristics of the hosts.  The orientation      seems to have been:  If you can come up with names for the      horizontal and vertical nodes and if it has to do with the hosts,      make a chart out of it.  This collection of charts goes under the      euphemism "ARPA Network handbook".  Information on a host is      scattered over all the pages which is a questionable organizing      scheme.  Additionally, since the charts contain much of what is      already in the Resource Notebook, we now have the delightful task      of maintaining two documents when changes are necessary.   2. A telephone call asking for hourly loads on the TX-2 computer for      every hour of the months April and May.  One can easily imagine      all this information being keypunched in some computer (on the      network, of course) and then lovely bar graphs, curves, plots,      etc., being generated.  Probably in triplicate.   3. A mailbox message about a "central software repository" and a      personnel file. (Copy of the message is attached).  This was just      too much and is the immediate precursor of this RFC.   My first reaction to the "central software repository" was that this   has got to be some kind of prank.  But when the second message   (identical to the first) arrived an hour later and when I learned   that others had also received it, I reluctantly accepted its   legitimacy.  Actually, sending the message in duplicate fits in very   nicely with the general bureaucratic syndrome evidenced by the   contents of the message.   This RFC addresses itself merely to the idea of listings of every   program.  That does not mean that I think that the rest of the   request is better, just that I don't have the time to write a   treatise on the general subject.  It should be noted (if not obvious)   that what follows is being written with almost unbearable restraint.Kantrowitz                                                      [Page 1]

RFC 514                    NETWORK MAKE-WORK                5 June 1973   Listings of every program available to network users?  Has anybody   calculated how much paper would be generated?  How many trees would   have to be cut down for this paper?  How many filing cabinets are   going to be needed?  How is this massive amount of information in its   totality going to be of use anyone?  Is there going to be an   answering service which will answer such questions as to what is on   the third line of page 5 of the listings of the editor at a given   host?  Will one be "required" to send a new listing in order to   change a program?         This material has not been reviewed for public release and is         intended only for use with the ARPA network.  It should not be         quoted or cited in any publication not related to the ARPA         network.         plf-2256   From the point of view of a site such as TX-2, the questions become   even more intriguing.  Many of our programs are written in assembly   language.  Should we, therefore, also send along a copy of our   (incomplete) assembly language manual?  Or should we drop everything   else and complete the manual?  What about listings of our operating   system since the programs make calls upon the system for input-   output, file management, etc.?  (I could go on and on, but the   readers should get the idea by now.)  Much of this applies to any   host, but for a host which has a one-and-only computer,the problems   are more acute.   Once again, may I repeat my plea fromRFC 459.  There are small   research sites on the network.  TX-2 is one of them.  Please, network   community, don't drown us in a sea of make-work.  We might get   nothing done just keeping up with it.  Or is that no longer   important?   In particular, the network community ought to be glad that in the mid   1960's we at TX-2 weren't bombarded with tons of make-work and were   able to get something done.  What I have in mind is the initial   experimentation with a small-scale network prototype with SDC which   demonstrated the feasibility of networks and led to the ARPA Network.   (Please see reference.)  Who knows what we, or some other site, will   come up with if given the chance?   Some people have suggested that I not write this RFC reasoning that   if I just ignore it, the problem will go away.  But the problem is   not going away.  If anything, it seems to be getting worse.  Silence   becomes in effect tacit consent.  I do not intend to sit by and   sacrifice useful work to satisfy bureaucratic compulsiveness.Kantrowitz                                                      [Page 2]

RFC 514                    NETWORK MAKE-WORK                5 June 1973   It says someplace that one should end on a positive note.  OK, here   goes: May I respectfully suggest that the next potential perpetrator   of network (make) work for someone else think very hard about the   justification for it.  Also, think about how much time it will take,   remembering that not everybody is as fast or brilliant as you are.   If you would like positive responses from others, you should consider   why someone else should feel motivated to do the work you request.   Then put all this down on paper as the introduction to the "work   order."  Then think some more.  Try it on some colleagues.  If it has   still survived then maybe you have something.  Just maybe.REFERENCE   T. Marill and L. Roberts, "Toward a Cooperative Network of Time-   Shared Computers" in AFIPS Conference Proceedings, November 1966.   WK:sja   attachment                                   COPY   NET MAIL FROM SITE USC-ISI RCVD AT  30-MAY-73  10:59:44   -------   DATE   30-MAY-73   0740-PDT   FROM   RML AT USC-ISI   RE:    RML CENTRAL SOFTWARE REPOSITORY   - - - -RML CENTRAL SOFTWARE REPOSITORY   RML IN THE CAPACITY OF ARPANET MANAGER IS INTERESTED IN ESTABLISHING   AT RML A CENTRAL REPOSITORY OF PROGRAMS ADVERTISED IN THE NETWORK   RESOURCES NOTEBOOK BY THE HOST SERVER SITES AS AVAILABLE FOR USE BY   NETWORK MEMBERS.  IT IS ALSO DESIRED THAT PROGRAMS GENERALLY   AVAILABLE FOR USE BY NETWORK MEMBERS BUT NOT LISTED IN THE RESOURCE   NOTEBOOK ALSO BE INCLUDED.  AVAILABLE DOCUMENTATION ON THE PROGRAMS   IS ALSO REQUIRED.  THE TYPE OF PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION DESIRED INCLUDES   BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO -   1.  PROGRAM DESCRIPTION   2.  LISTINGS   3.  RUNNING INSTRUCTIONS      A.  OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS      B.  INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE DATA TO BE PROCESSED   4.  PROGRAM LIMITATIONS   5.  ANY OTHER AVAILABLE DOCUMENTATION IN THE ABSENCE OF THE ABOVE.   YOUR COOPERATION IS THEREFORE SOLICITED IN PROVIDING COPIES OF THOSE   PROGRAMS WITH THE ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTATION ADVERTISED BY YOUR SITE ASKantrowitz                                                      [Page 3]

RFC 514                    NETWORK MAKE-WORK                5 June 1973   AVAILABLE FOR USE BY NETWORK.  IF THERE IS A CHARGE FOR THE MATERIAL   PLEASE PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION BEFORE INITIATING ANY ACTION.  IN   THOSE CASES WHERE THE PROGRAM RESIDES AT A GIVEN HOST SITE AND THE   DOCUMENTATION IS LOCATED ELSEWHERE SIMPLY PROVIDE THE LOCATION   INFORMATION.   RML IS ALSO ESTABLISHING A FILE OF HOST SITE PERSONNEL OR STAFF   INTERESTED IN OR POSSESSING PARTICULAR TECHNICAL TALENTS OR   CAPABILITIES IN ANY SCIENTIFIC FIELDS.  THE PERSONS NAME, CREDENTIALS   AND A SHORT SUMMARY OF PARTICULARS IS DESIRED AND WILL BE   APPRECIATED.  PLEASE MAIL COPIES OF THE PROGRAMS, DOCUMENTATION AND   PERSONNEL   INFORMATION TO -   LT.  COL.  E.P. SCHELONKA   RANGE MEASUREMENTS LABORATORY   ENLD   PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA  32925   PLEASE SEND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIS MESSAGE INDICATING IF YOUR   SITE WILL PROVIDE THE REQUESTED MATERIAL AND INFORMATION.  SEND   REPLY TO RML->ISI ATTENTION G. CLARKE   -------         [ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]           [ into the online RFC archives by Bill Vance 12/97 ]Kantrowitz                                                      [Page 4]