NAT program used in DOS pre-2000 (was: Re: Verison IPv6 -- I want to stick ...)

[rhkramer@gmail.com]

Oops, just noticed that in my previous email I said pre-2020 when I meant 
pre-2000 -- that may have added some confusion.

On Wednesday, August 10, 2022 08:55:20 AM Dan Ritter wrote:
> rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> > my LAN consisted only of DOS (or Windows) computers.  One (DOS) computer
> > on the LAN  ran one or more software packages that (1) interfaced to the
> > dial-up (!!) modem and (2) provided the NAT functionality.
> > 
> > I don't recall if that was one package or two, and in any case, I don't
> > recall the package name(s).
> 
> ipchains, replaced by iptables, which is now built on nftables (but
> nftables can be used alone). The general concept was called "masquerade"
> but is, as you have noted, 1:N NAT. The dialup software was
> often pppd (or before that, slipd).

It's not particularly important, but in an effort to try to be clear, the 
packages whose names I can't remember were DOS programs, and names like 
ipchains, iptables, or nftables were not familiar to me at the time, nor the 
names of any of the programs used on that (DOS) gateway (not Gateway (TM)) 
computer.

I wish I could remember those names (but, as stated, I am sure they were not 
ipchains, iptables, or nftables).

OT: 

I might comment on other parts of this email later -- I mean, I'm weighing in 
my mind, what is the most accurate definitiion of NAT -- the implementation 
(and plans for) the first NAT implemented, or later variations of NAT with 
various enhancements or variations?  

(And which was the first implementation of NAT?  I lived in the DOS / Windows 
world at the time and the first implementation of NAT I ran into was the one I 
described, but maybe NAT was implemented in some other world (*nix?) before 
then?)

The general question  (that is, what is the most accurate definition of some 
term that has evolved over time) applies to a variety of things.  And adding 
new meanings to old terms confuses us dinosaurs.  And then I have to decide if 
there is a (non-permanent ;-) way to reduce the misery for us dinosaurs.

(But of course,  adding new terms for new concepts also confuses (or, at 
least, can overload us dinosaurs)>

The answer that is easy to state is that dinosaurs should keep up with things 
as they change, but I (and, I'm sure, others) find that harder to do as we get 
older.

Maybe I'll have to check with Ponce (de Leone -- sp?) to see if he ever did 
find that fountain. ;-)

-- 
rhk

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