On 2015-07-25 21:20, Martin Pieuchot wrote: > On 13/07/15(Mon) 14:04, Dimitris Papastamos wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I noticed -f in ndp(8) did nothing at all so I've enabled it and >> documented the file syntax in the man page. > > If it does nothing, I'd say let's kill it.
Looking at the code, that looks more like an oversight to me. There is a comment early in ndp.c that says ndp(8) is based on arp(8), and the corresponding code in arp.c is similarly organized - with a working -f switch - and both has near identical file() functions to do the work. So all the logic for the functionality is there, there's only one case in the "switch (mode)" statement that's missing in order to activate it. Also, the code has been like that since it was imported into the tree, so if there is a reason it's missing it is to be found in somebody else's repository. :-) This is also a comment to Dmitris' later mail proposing an alternative patch to instead remove -f in both arp and ndp, which I feel would be a bit of a mistake. I can't say I have used arp -f in recent memory, but I know for a fact that I have used it on Solaris in ancient times to support strange internet enabled devices like printer spoolers, intelligent power switches and the like that acquires their IP address through rarp. In other words, my recommendation is to accept this patch and discard the latter one. Regards, /Benny
