RFC (Request for Comments) document: RFC 791, Internet Protocol (September 1981)
• This is often mistakenly attributed to Jon Postel, but it is actually a very slight variation on a quotation from John Shoch; both RFC-791 and its earlier version RFC-760 include, at the point in the text where this passage appears, a reference to Shoch's paper Inter-Network Naming, Addressing, and Routing, which is the original source of this observation.
• This is often mistakenly attributed to Jon Postel, but it is actually a very slight variation on a quotation from John Shoch; both RFC-791 and its earlier version RFC-760 include, at the point in the text where this passage appears, a reference to Shoch's paper Inter-Network Naming, Addressing, and Routing, which is the original source of this observation.
“
A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there.
— Jon Postel
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there." in the context of "RFC (Request for Comments) document: RFC 791, Internet Protocol (September 1981)
• This is often mistakenly attributed to Jon Postel, but it is actually a very slight variation on a quotation from John Shoch; both RFC-791 and its earlier version RFC-760 include, at the point in the text where this passage appears, a reference to Shoch's paper Inter-Network Naming, Addressing, and Routing, which is the original source of this observation." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Jon Postel" (Misattributed)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Jon Postel
Jonathan Bruce Postel (August 6, 1943 – October 16, 1998) was an American computer scientist. He was the first and longest-serving editor of the ARPANET (later Internet) RFC document series, and wrote or edited many of protocol standards still used in the Internet today.
About Jon Postel
Jonathan Bruce Postel (August 6, 1943 – October 16, 1998) was an American computer scientist. He was the first and longest-serving editor of the ARPANET (later Internet) RFC document series, and wrote or edited many of protocol standards still used in the Internet today.
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