1. Make network sockets reliable in a transparent way Rocks protect sockets-based applications from network failures, particularly failures common to mobile computing, including: - Link failures (e.g., unexpected modem disconnection); - IP address changes (e.g., laptop movement, DHCP lease expiry); - Extended periods of disconnection (e.g., laptop suspension). Rock-enabled programs continue to run after any of these events; their broken connections recover automatically, without loss of in-flight data, when connectivity returns. Rocks work transparently with most applications, including SSH clients, X window applications, and network service daemons. From Debian 3.0r0 APT