Lesson plan

MacTCP

MacTCP is the standard TCP/IP implementation for the classic Mac OS through version 7.5.1. It is the first application-independent implementation of a TCP stack for a non-Unix platform and predates Winsock by over 5 years. Released in 1988, it is obsolete and has reliability issues and incomplete features that sometimes prevent it from operating properly on the modern Internet. The API is proprietary to Mac OS, and at least one developer released a Berkeley Sockets-derived API to make porting from other platforms easier. It was originally a substantial purchase, at for a site license, with an additional $2,500 fee for commercial use. The price was lowered until by the mid-1990s it was . MacTCP is included free with System 7.5, when the rising popularity of the Internet made it a necessity. Apple replaced it in 1995 with Open Transport, which has an improved interface for user configuration, although MacTCP remained in use on older systems due to its generally lower system requirements.

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Article summary

MacTCP is the standard TCP/IP implementation for the classic Mac OS through version 7.5.1. It is the first application-independent implementation of a TCP stack for a non-Unix platform and predates Winsock by over 5 years. Released in 1988, it is obsolete and has reliability issues and incomplete features that sometimes prevent it from operating properly on the modern Internet. The API is proprietary to Mac OS, and at least one developer released a Berkeley Sockets-derived API to make porting from other platforms easier. It was originally a substantial purchase, at for a site license, with an additional $2,500 fee for commercial use. The price was lowered until by the mid-1990s it was . MacTCP is included free with System 7.5, when the rising popularity of the Internet made it a necessity. Apple replaced it in 1995 with Open Transport, which has an improved interface for user configuration, although MacTCP remained in use on older systems due to its generally lower system requirements.

Key claims

  1. release date: 1988 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the release date is "1988". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1346123178

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.