>> >> 	then, you at least need to check if the machine is running NIS or not,
>> >> 	and suppress getdomainname() case if NIS is running.  IMHO.
>> >
>> >No, not really.  Half the time the NIS domain is the same as the DNS
>> >domain, and the rest of the time you have to set $mydomain anyway so
>> >it's never a loss (the $mydomain setting overrides in all cases).
>> 
>> the nis domain name is stored, for nis purposes, by setdomainname().
>
>RTFM man.  Setdomainname() has nothing specific to do with NIS or DNS or
>anything else.  It's simply a convenient way to store a string in the
>kernel.  Same as "hostname" which can be either for NIS, DNS, UUCP, or
>whatever.  There's no inherent meaning attached to these other than
>their given "names".

i did.  and the source.  netbsd says it's for storing the domainname,
with no particular indication of why or wherefore.  other systems (eg
solaris) use it for nis.  i'm very much in favor of homogeneity, so
i'm not about to go storing something in somewhere which some systems
use for nix and some don't.  i'll find a way that works the same way
on all machines.  netbsd's nis was written "to be compatible with
Sun's implementation".  i'd be surprised if it didn't use the kernel
info (modulo it simply being told not to).

>> fwiw - i have no idea why nis gets kernel help for its dirty work.
>
>It doesn't, and that's the point.  Those kernel storage places are for
>generic use -- use them for whatever purpose you need them for.

under netbsd it doesn't have a special purpose.  saying it's for mail
is just as wrong as anything else.

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