Request for Comment (RFC)

Standards like the IP protocol come from an open process in which anyone is free to publish a request for comments (RFC) on a proposed standard. (A program implementing the standard is also often published at the same time).

For example, the following figure is taken from RFC 760 DoD standard Internet Protocol, Jon Postel, January 1, 1980. This definition of an IP packet header is still in use.

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Time to Live |    Protocol   |         Header Checksum       |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                       Source Address                          |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                    Destination Address                        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                    Options                    |    Padding    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                    Example Internet Datagram Header

This open standards process in which anyone is free to comment upon a proposal as well as extend it was critical to the invention and evolution of the Internet. The RFC process, like earlier computer and software users groups, preceded today's open-source software movement.

To search through RFCs, submit your own, or learn more about the process, go to www.rfc-editor.org/. Some RFCs you use every day are:

RFC 821 for sending e-mail
RFC 1591 for using domain names like .com
RFC 1945 for retrieving documents on the Web

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