Talk:Larry Smarr

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This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 09:58, 10 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

NSFNet? or ARPANet?

The article asserts that NSFNet was the predecessor of the internet. I believe that this is incorrect, and it was the ARPANet.

This is correct. I was on the University of Texas computer committee in the late '60s, when ARPANet was first being floated. We agreed to be amongst those included. Bill Jefferys (talk) 01:20, 2 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

BTW this was well before Larry wrote his dissertation (I was on his committee). NSFNet was 11 or 12 years after he got his Ph.D. Bill Jefferys (talk) 01:31, 2 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

When using a lay description ('the web', 'the internet') for something with technical ramifications, there are usually a few inexactitudes and ambiguities that are apparent to the technically oriented. ARPANET preceded and much was founded upon it, but it was not an available choice for the general public, nor for researchers without difficult-to-get access, and hopeless for a non-computer-type, which included almost everyone. Things became more accessible over time, and credit is due to many for that, which is not to dilute the credit that is due to ARPANET.

NSFnet and the backbone certainly made access to technical facilities easier and more practical (and eventually, access to virtually all facilities by virtually anyone), and it was certainly "a significant predecessor" to 'the internet' and 'the web', though not the only predecessor ... so perhaps "a significant" should be added to the paragraph prior to the word "predecessor"? Regards, Notuncurious (talk) 03:42, 2 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I approve of your language tweaking. Bill Jefferys (talk) 20:26, 3 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Misses his involvement in the Web and Mosaic.

Larry Smarr was head of NCSA when the Web took off, in part because of Mosaic. Smarr's role in directing resources to the Mosaic project is underappreciated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 100.0.244.109 (talk) 14:13, 10 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]