Show HN: Read the RFCs That Built the Internet

2 stonecharioteer 2 8/5/2025, 2:49:09 AM tech.stonecharioteer.com ↗

Hi HN! I was using AI tools to research some of the RFCs people recommend you read and I thought why not build a tool that allows you to progressively do this and provides python examples, with dockerfiles to demonstrate some of the more complicated networking paradigms.

It's not fully done yet, but I thought I'd show it off to get some feedback.

https://rfc.stonecharioteer.com

Comments (2)

ggm · 58m ago

I was working on a pre internet protocol stack in the early 1980s. It was called the "coloured book protocols" because each application and layer had a different colour spine. Email was "grey book mail" and in truth it was substantively the same as what we all know as rfc822 format. Sent over x.25, store and forward mechanisms up at application layer.

Obviously we looked at other protocol stacks. Like IP.

A colleague said to me one day "how can they call it 'simple mail transfer protocol' when it's a quarter inch thick pile of fanfold paper" pointing at the 132 column line printer printout on my desk of SMTP.. (which in turn was rfc821 at the time)

stonecharioteer · 56m ago

Oh wow.

I wonder how many of these stories are lost to time.