Alexander Skwar wrote:
>
> Hmm, but at least for me the decimal notation is clearer than the other
> notation. Or maybe it's just, that I'm more used to it. Anyway, what is
> 255.240.0.0 in "your" notation?
Well... since all addresses are 32 bits long with the first set of bits
denoting the network and the last bits denoting the host, the IP/m clearly tells
me the number of bits to use for "mask"ing the address to get either part.
In your example: /12 (8 from first octet plus 4 from 2nd octet).
In dotted decimal notation, most people need to convert from decimal to hex to
see the number of bits in the mask. My ealier point was that decimal is not
"natural" in a binary world... Besides, "<ip>/20" in Udo's case is faster to
type and much less error prone than "<ip> 255.255.240.0") :^)
Udo correctly responded that the mask is legal and required. It makes sense to
me that the server should give out both the address and mask. Having a dhclient
that refuses to accept _classless_ IP addresses indicates that the code is
overdue for a rewrite to bring it up to date.
Pierre
