Re: An observation

[Dave Crocker <dcrocker@imc.org>]

At 04:09 AM -0600 12/26/96, Simon Higgs wrote:
>Seriously, the room was loaded with engineers with personal principles
>based mostly upon the traditional academic internet. The advertising
>and marketing community was not represented at all.

	Simon, this is a common belief and it is wrong.  There were 2,000
people at that IETF and most had not been to an IETF meeting before.  The
'traditional' ietf community comprises a few hundred folk, at most.  Since
I was the first commercial participant in an ietf I can tell you that
before things got commercial, there were about 40 participants.

	To repeat:  The vast majority of ietf attendees are part of a
commercial enterprise.  Assigning them the role of 'academic' suggests that
they do not appreciate or subscribe to the goals of their employer.  This,
I think, is follie.

d/


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