I agree completely about the dumb network. Security, in particular, lives in the endpoints.
But still, net-boot BIOSes and BOOTP/DHCP protocols have been around since 1985 (RFC 951). They show no signs of going away. Possibly the problem of bootstrapping the configuration and security relationships will be with us as long as there are security boundaries on the networks.
And there will be security boundaries on networks as long as there are mediated boundaries in the real world.
But still, net-boot BIOSes and BOOTP/DHCP protocols have been around since 1985 (RFC 951). They show no signs of going away. Possibly the problem of bootstrapping the configuration and security relationships will be with us as long as there are security boundaries on the networks.
And there will be security boundaries on networks as long as there are mediated boundaries in the real world.