[aprssig] Why KISS?

[Larry Cerney]

KISS has been around for some time now as a means for a computer to transfer
digital data to a radio modem.  I have seen a number of digital computer
applications that suggest that the TNC (Radio modem) be run in KISS mode.

I haven't been able to see the rational for doing that when the TNC's I have
used have a great deal of "smarts" built in.  The one major drawback I see
with using KISS mode is that when the computer stops working, thanks
Microsoft, the total functionality of the node goes with it.

In my case I have a radio and TNC that run from a 160 AH battery and
provides a digi function to the network.  The attached computer runs through
a UPS which gives it about 10 minutes of run time before it shuts down.  If
I run in KISS mode, after 10 minutes, my node and digi shutdown with the
computer.  Where if I leave the TNC in "standard" TNC mode the digi will
continue to support traffic for days.

So, my question is why KISS?  What advantages does it offer over the
"smarts" inherent in the TNC's themselves?

Thanks 
73...
Larry
K0ANI

"A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension."
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841 - 1935)