Rob Landley wrote in a message to John Poltorak:

>  RL> TCP/IP is a networking protocol.  It allows two computers connected to
>  RL> each other (via a modem, paralell prot,
> 
> I didn't think that the parallel port interface was covered by any of the
> TCP/IP protocols...

 RL> True, but TCP/IP just defines a data packet.  Slip is an
 RL> implementation of TCP/IP, so are PPP and the standard
 RL> ethernet one.  You -COULD- do a paralell port implementation
 RL> of it.  Just because it's possible doesn't mean it's
 RL> standardized, though.

TCP/IP runs above the link layer protocol, whether Ethernet, PPP, or SLIP. 
The IP code should be independent of the kind of the hardware and link
layer protocol in use.

In some cases, the link layer drivers must be aware of hardware specific
issues.  For example, PPP is defined slightly differently for operation
over asynchronous serial lines and synchronous serial lines.
 
-- Mike


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