I would change the main verb from "comply" to "conform", and rewrite the whole subphrase as a verb construct (since "... is ... is ..." tends to grate slightly), i.e.Thus, if a DNS server which is responsible for the
name is not compliant to the specifications
==> s/to/with/ (I've seen both but I think that with is better)?
I myself does not have a strong opinion on this. If someone else, particularly a native English speaker, makes a (quick) strong suggestion, I'll take it. Otherwise, I'll leave the wording as is.
Some detailed background of this decision: I've grepped for "compliant to" and "compliant with" over RFCs, and have not seen a significant difference:
(per line result)
% grep -i 'compliant to' *.txt | wc -l
155
% grep -i 'compliant with' *.txt | wc -l 182
(per document result)
% grep -i 'compliant to' *.txt | awk '{print $1}' | sort | uniq | wc -l
117
% grep -i 'compliant with' *.txt | awk '{print $1}' | sort | uniq | wc -l 101
(This comparison may not be fair, though, because most documents using 'compliant to' are MIB related ones, and the result may simply come from a preference of a small group/individual.)
Actually, the whole sentence could be tightened up and merged with the previous one:Thus, if a DNS server which is responsible for the name does not conform to the specifications
This fallback mechanism is based on the DNS specifications, which if not obeyed by authoritative servers can produce unpleasant results.
(Admittedly, "obey" is slightly less well-defined than either "comply" or "conform", but its use obviates the placement to two prepositions in a row).
- Kevin
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