The internet: a question for Shane

[Travis Retriever]

I once saw you post something saying that the way the government designed the protocol of the internet, it "assumed that everyone on it was one big happy family".
What do you think could have been better, esp. if the government didn't do any of it, and the free market made it all from the ground up?

[MrBogosity]

Just look at the other protocols that existed at the time. Look at things like, authentication built into email (imagine no spams!), no direct connection without mutual trust (imagine no viruses/worms!), address spaces that dwarf even IPv6 (imagine no NAT!), much more efficient routing systems (imagine everything as fast as Bittorrent!), etc.

Man, I'm feeling a John Lennon song coming on...

[Gumba Masta]

Good thing we keep all the gagging material handy.