Date: Fri, 05 Jul 2002 10:08:46 -0400
From: Keith Moore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
| One reason I say that this is an API issue is that (at least the destination
| address selection stuff) is really a mechanism for encouraging or defaulting
| the binding of the destination address to a socket.
That is what it is, but that isn't API.
| But the application is going to need to be able to explictly choose a
| specific destination address in any case,
I'm not sure I agree with that in all cases, an application might want
to choose - for the vast majority of applications, anything that works
will do - regardless of which is best.
| so this is just a way to help the application choose the "right"
| answer.
Yes, but affecting (or even being) the application doesn't make it API.
| Another reason I say this is an API issue is that a good choice of
| destination address (and therefore source address) cannot be made
| without explicit knowledge of the application's requirements.
Sure, it can affect the application, and be affected by it, so an API is
needed - but what's in this draft isn't that.
| Another reason I say that this is an API issue is that we really need
| all platforms that currently provide the same API to implement this
Here you're saying that there needs to be a standard API, and I don't
disagree, and I doubt anyone does (or not anyone who agrees with having
the API docs) - but this doc isn't that API.
| This cannot be a protocol issue except in a few specific cases, because
| there are very few (approaching zero) protocols that explicitly and
| exhaustively define the mechanisms by which addresses are advertised to
| potential peers. e.g. We cannot assume that all addresses in all (or even
| most) protocols are obtained exclusively through DNS.
It isn't a protocol issue, in the sense that things will break if you
don't pick the "right" addresses, no more than there is a protocol issue
in the sense that things will break if you don't do a random delay before
sending a RS packet - but doing these kinds of things properly improves
the overall operation of the net, using the right addresses can get
packets though better. It may be true now that nothing much in this
doc will actually achieve that, but if we know which addresses will be
selected by apps, we can engineer things so those work best.
kre
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