TCP/IP at 30

I read a piece today in Le Monde describing this as the 30th anniversary of TCP/IP,the Internet protocol. From an IEEE paper in May 1974, by Kahn and Cerf, entitled A Protocol For Packet Network Intercommunication, there evolved this simple method of communicating over a computer network. As they stated then:

A protocol that supports the sharing of resources that exist in different packet switching networks is presented. The protocol provides for variation in individual network packet sizes, transmission failures, sequencing flow control, end-to-end error checking, and the creation and destruction of  logical process-to-process connections. Some implementation issues are considered, and problems such as internetwork routing, accounting, and timeouts are exposed. 

Le Monde states:

 Internet, 30 ans déjà ? En écrivant cela, on imagine déjà les commentateurs de ce post s'étriper sur la "vraie" date de naissance du Réseau. Alors précisons tout de suite : il y a trente ans (et un jour), le protocole TCP/IP voyait le jour, rappelle l'un de ses pères fondateurs, Vint Cerf, sur le blog des équipes de Google....

C'est pour palier ce problème que Vint Cerf et Robert Kahn ont développé un nouveau protocole TCP/IP, afin que tous les réseaux, et les ordinateurs parlent le même langage. Le 1^er janvier 1983 avait été fixé comme dead-line pour migrer tous les serveurs du réseau Arpanet vers le nouveau protocole. "Quand ce jour-là est arrivé, l'émotion était palpable (...) Il n'y eut pas de grande célébration – je ne trouve pas même une seule photo – indique Vint Cerf. Le seul souvenir que l'on a gardé ce sont les badges 'j'ai survécu au passage au TCP/IP' que portaient fièrement ceux qui avaient surmonté cette épreuve !"

Thus as Vint states on his Google posting:

 It’s been almost 40 years since Bob and I wrote our paper, and I can assure you while we had high hopes, we did not dare to assume that the Internet would turn into the worldwide platform it’s become. I feel immensely privileged to have played a part and, like any proud parent, have delighted in watching it grow. I continue to do what I can to protect its future. I hope you’ll join me today in raising a toast to the Internet—may it continue to connect us for years to come.

 I remember coming from MIT to Comsat in 1975 and being told that one task was to try this protocol out on our satellite links. Harry Van Trees headed the Department and Estil Hoversten and BobKahn, forever tennis partners, tried this out, and I managed to get the links in place, oftentimes going around corners and dealing with "friends" to help out. In it went to Goonhilly (England) and Trondheim (Norway) and I even got a few to other strange places as we tested variants.

So Happy 30th birthday.