Re: [idn] Re: Hostname syntax

["Adam M. Costello" <idn.amc+0@nicemice.net.RemoveThisWord>]

"Eric A. Hall" <ehall@ehsco.com> wrote:

> The last sentence from the following excerpt of RFC 952:
>
> | 1. A "name" (Net, Host, Gateway, or Domain name) is a text string
> | up to 24 characters drawn from the alphabet (A-Z), digits (0-9),
> | minus sign (-), and period (.). Note that periods are only allowed
> | when they serve to delimit components of "domain style names".
> | (See RFC-921, "Domain Name System Implementation Schedule", for
> | background).  No blank or space characters are permitted as part of
> | a name.  No distinction is made between upper and lower case.  The
> | first character must be an alpha character.  The last character must
> | not be a minus sign or period.  A host which serves as a GATEWAY
> | should have "-GATEWAY" or "-GW" as part of its name.  Hosts which do
> | not serve as Internet gateways should not use "-GATEWAY" and "-GW"
> | as part of their names.  A host which is a TAC should have "-TAC"
> | as the last part of its host name, if it is a DoD host.  Single
> | character names or nicknames are not allowed.

It clearly says that a "name" may contain periods, which delimit
"components", and it disallows "single character names", not "single
character components".

Curiously, it forbids hostnames that end in a dot, and RFC 1034 says
that domain names that name hosts should follow the rules for HOSTS.TXT
(RFC 952), but also says that full (absolute) domain names end in a dot.

AMC