[ih] X.500 document history (Re: NIC, InterNIC, and Modelling Administration)

[harald at alvestrand.no (Harald Alvestrand)]

On 02/18/11 00:56, John Day wrote:
> The thing is I don't know what you think the "OSI issues" were?
>
> I would have to look, but I don't think in 1984 that the X.500 work 
> had started and if it had it would have been very early. They would 
> have been coming up with a directory protocol and trying to throw 
> everything in that someone might use for a naming tree.  There was 
> certainly no consideration of what sorts of naming trees would 
> actually be created, or for that matter who was going to create them.  
> It certainly would not have been "OSI."
>
> Lots of people had ideas but there was no OSI position on it.  That I 
> can guarantee.  The date on X.500 is 1990.  Generally took 4-5 years 
> to do this and the X.500 stuff was highly controversial within OSI.
The first version of X.500 was in the ITU-T Blue Book, which was 
published in 1988. The Red Book (1984) did not have a directory service.

The first "operational" X.500 RFC was RFC 1218, "Naming scheme for 
c=US", dated April 1991, but it's also referred to in Karen Sollins' "A 
Plan for Internet Directory Services", July 1989.

It seems reasonable to assume that the basic design work was carried out 
in 1984-1988.

                    Harald