[Outages-discussion] Internet "backbone"

[Robert Brockway]

On Sat, 19 Nov 2011, Joseph Jackson wrote:

> TL;DR - The community needs to educated each other and our end users so as 
> people better understand how this highly complex network works and is 
> designed.

Some of us are trying :)  I'm currently writing a series of presentations 
and essays that will all be released under CC-BY-SA.  I'm currently 
working on "What is Free and Open Source Software?" and the next one is 
"How the Internet works".  These two are aimed primarily at a 
non-technical audience.  I'm also working on more technical 
presentations[1].

I think a big part of the problem is that many people who work in the 
technical side of the IT industry are quite shaky on network theory and 
principles.  Most of us have learnt 'on the job' in a rapidly changing 
environment but some of us may not have spent enough time filling in the 
holes in our knowledge.

A second problem (IMHO) is a lack of community involvement.  The Internet 
and our understanding of it are evolving rapidly[2].  Involvement in 
technical communities allows us to see what strategies others are 
following, what has and has not worked, etc.  Operating in isolation seems 
like a great way to reinvent the wheel to me.

I've spent a lot of time encouraging education and community involvement. 
Some people get it, some don't.

[1] I've done presentations in the past too and these are all being 
updated and will be relased under CC-BY-SA as well.  Yes this is a lot of 
work which may explain why I'm doing this at midnight on a Saturday night 
:)

[2] I expect this to continue for several more decades.  The Internet is 
in its infancy.

Cheers,

Rob

-- 
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