TCP "Option Packet Mood"

February 5, 2025

The RFC 5841 is a proposal to add an option in the TCP header to indicate the mood of packets.

Packets cannot feel. They are created for the purpose of moving data from one system to another. However, it is clear that in specific situations some measure of emotion can be inferred or added. For instance, a packet that is retransmitted to resend data for a packet for which no ACK was received could be described as an ‘angry‘ packet, or a ‘frustrated’ packet (if it is not the first retransmission for instance).