[ On Monday, January 5, 2004 at 13:42:38 (-0800), Greywolf wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: re-reading /etc/resolv.conf on change
>
> On the contrary:  It's quite relevant.  DNS was around before NIS was.
> Did it ever use something called 'domainname'?  [Hint:  No.]

That's so totally irrellevant that I think you've lost it completely.  :-)

> To suggest that DNS should haul in domainname is ludicrous.

To suggest that it not use it when it's sitting there doing absolute
nothing else in the vast majority of systems (except maybe confusing
those who wonder why it isn't used as I suggest) is what's ludicrous.


> [on diverse NIS/DNS setups]
s/diverse/dischordant|incongrous|clashing|jarring|inconsistent|dissonant|irreconcilable/  :-)
> 
> I don't see that it's a bad thing to have done.

I'm sure you'll learn what's bad about it some day!  ;-)



[[ ... regarding resolv.conf's "search" option ... ]]
> 
> So you're saying the searchlist is useless?!?

No, I'm saying that for mobile computers it's counterproductive,
confusing, and not what you think it is for.

> GAW> What if your computer were mobile?  What do you do when both domains
> GAW> have a machine called "mail" or "proxy" that you need to access
> GAW> regularly and simultaneously?  What would you do if you regularly used
> GAW> an application like Mozilla that needed to know the names of smtp and
> GAW> proxy servers but each had a different unqualified name?
> 
> Those are two completely opposite problems!

No, not opposite -- just at each extreme of the spectrum of possible
problems with this incoherent use of "search".

> Perhaps this is why mozilla supports separate profiles?  Who knows.

Well I don't know about mozilla (though I don't think so), but it still
would not be generically useful since it's application specific.

> If that is the crux of the argument, I'm in agreement with you, above
> statements notwithstanding.
> 
> I've a feeling that old-guard network constructs really no longer apply
> in the world of mobile communications and computing.

Yes, that's the root of the problem.

Unfortunately it's been compounded by half-assed hacks like having
dhclient-script rewrite resolv.conf but not bother with handling any
number of other extremely useful DHCP options (time or NTP, font,
finger, IRC, lpr, log, nntp, pop, smtp, www, xdm, and even swap servers
could and should all be set by DHCP; and then there's all the ones that
are not yet directly supported by DHCP, such as LDAP, IMAP, and no doubt
many others).

>  I think it all
> needs to be either expanded or rewritten at some point.  But that's just me.

Well first off what needs to happen is for people to realize there's a
real problem here, not just something that can be hacked over like
/etc/resolv.conf.

-- 
						Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098                  VE3TCP            RoboHack <woods@robohack.ca>
Planix, Inc. <woods@planix.com>          Secrets of the Weird <woods@weird.com>