On Sun, 19 Mar 2000 18:55:39 -0500 dpennell at quallaby.com wrote:
>You must initialize the network primitives before calling individual
>>socket or network routines. call, for example
>>
>>	NetNameResolver 		initializeNetworkIfFail:
>> [self error: 'network initialization failed']
>>
>>or, more simply
>>
>>	Socket initializeNetwork
>
>Mea culpa.  I can't count how many times this has been discussed on this
>list.  
>
>Can anybody think of a reason we can't just add this to SystemDictionary's
>StartUpList?

David,

The main reason is that Socket class>>initializeNetwork may (must?) imply some actual network activity. This could be disturbing for folks with dial-up connections. Note this excerpt from the comment in  NetNameResolver class>>primInitializeNetwork:

"... 
Since mobile computers may not always be connected to a network, this method should NOT be called automatically at startup time; rather, it should be called when first starting a networking application. 
..."
	
Cheers,
Bob