RFC 1263 · INFORMATIONAL · 1991
SUN · 14 JUN 2026
TCP Extensions Considered Harmful
Overview
RFC 1263, “TCP Extensions Considered Harmful”, is an Informational document published in October 1991 by S. O'Malley, L.L. Peterson. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.
Abstract
This RFC comments on recent proposals to extend TCP. It argues that the backward compatible extensions proposed in RFC's 1072 and 1185 should not be pursued, and proposes an alternative way to evolve the Internet protocol suite. This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard.
What “Informational” means
Published for the general information of the community. It does not define an IETF standard and carries no standards-track status.
Read this RFC
The canonical text of RFC 1263 is hosted at rfc-editor.org. Available in TXT,HTML.
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