RFC 791, Internet Protocol (September 1981)
• Often shortened to Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send.
• Often shortened to Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send.
“
In general, an implementation must be conservative in its sending behavior, and liberal in its receiving behavior.
— Jon Postel
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "In general, an implementation must be conservative in its sending behavior, and liberal in its receiving behavior." in the context of "RFC 791, Internet Protocol (September 1981)
• Often shortened to Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send." to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Jon Postel" (Quotes)
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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