These guys, Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie, have done a whole series of open-source books all around the common theme of “A Systems Approach”. Here <https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/28/60_years_of_networking/> one of them offers a summary of the origins of the Internet, going back to the invention of packet switching and “best effort” delivery, and how that turned out to be such an important change from the traditional telephone network. He also takes the credit/blame for a long-standing myth about the Internet: I feel obligated to point out that there is no mention in this paper of the internet being designed to withstand nuclear attack. Unfortunately, I was responsible for perpetuating that misconception in an early edition of Computer Networks: A Systems Approach. Leiner et al debunk this myth and explain its origins in their paper, but it’s a remarkably persistent one. “[C]ontinue despite loss of networks or gateways” is as close as it gets. But now, cracks are starting to show in the trend toward centralization of popular Internet services. Not only is the “Fediverse” providing alternatives to Twitter and Facebook, but it is now also offering choices to those fed up with recent developments at Reddit, as well.