Everyone seems to be confusing TELNET with LOGIN. You all need to
go back and read the RFC, which says in its introduction:
The purpose of the TELNET Protocol is to provide a fairly general,
bi-directional, eight-bit byte oriented communications facility. Its
primary goal is to allow a standard method of interfacing terminal
devices and terminal-oriented processes to each other. It is
envisioned that the protocol may also be used for terminal-terminal
communication ("linking") and process-process communication
(distributed computation).
The term 'login' doesn't appear anywhere in that document.
TELNET implements a Network Virtual Terminal (NVT). You can use
NVTs for a lot of things. One of those things is to log in to a
remote server. But that is far from the only thing it is used for.
In my house alone, telnet is the terminal I use to talk to my TV,
stereo, blu ray player, toaster, lighting control system, and
numerous embedded controllers I have built to control my ever growing
stack of radio transmitters and receivers. Not one of those devices
asks me to 'login'. The concept is completely alien to them. I
don't need to 'authenticate' to my radio when I start banging out
morse code on the hand key, or push the front panel buttons, than I
do when I tickle it via telnet. If you think you are going to
inflict SSH on my arduino controllers, you are utterly delusional.
Give me a call when SSH supports RFC2717, and can provide 3270
emulation. (Yes, I use both. All the time.)
I am seriously considering bringing forward at the upcoming plenary
a suggestion that we add a new RFC Status category:
Eeewww! Old!!!
--lyndon
