ABSTRACT
In the many informal characterizations of distributed computing in the literature and in the trade press, the only point of complete agreement seems to be that distributed computing involves more than one processor. To discuss intelligently the technical issues involved in distributed academic computing, it is necessary to have general working characterizations of both "distributed computing" and "academic computing." The reason for coupling is to allow applications to be run on one or several processors, depending on their nature and the variety of services provided in a distributed fashion. The issues relevant to software support for a distributed academic system are less clear than those relevant to hardware. The hardware capabilities for achieving a centralized/localized distributed system have been available for some time. An identifiable staff serves the constituency representing online applications which are the key ones for the concept of distributed academic computing.
