Re: [RRG] Are host-stack modifications allowed or disallowed ?

["William Herrin" <bill@herrin.us>]

On Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 9:26 PM, Tony Li <tony.li@tony.li> wrote:
> |End users have been doing TE for as long as they've had access to
>  |competitive offerings. It is not a thing to be feared.
>
>  Agreed, but reality intrudes.  The entity forwarding the traffic is largely
>  in control of what the next hop should be.  While it's not unreasonable for
>  everyone on the path to express an opinion, the basic architecture of
>  hop-by-hop forwarding means that the instantaneous decision made right now
>  may or may not take those varying opinions into account.

Hi Tony,

Ultimately, the user has the power because he has the off switch. I've
heard a rumor that customer churn is a burning problem for ISPs. It
seems obvious (to me at least) that the more options you can give the
user between "on" and "off," the better chance you have of retaining
him as a paying customer.

How much control should the user have over his routing? Exactly as
much as practical and no more.


>  If a solution provides an influence
>  mechanism, but the ISP can choose to disregard it, is that acceptable?

From a purely philosophical standpoint, I argue that's backwards. The
ISP should provide the routing nudge which the user can choose to
disregard. Think of it like driving a car: the roads tend to funnel me
towards the Interstate highway and I normally go the direction they
lead but I can choose back roads any time I feel like it and nobody
says, "stop."

Regards,
Bill Herrin


-- 
William D. Herrin                  herrin@dirtside.com  bill@herrin.us
3005 Crane Dr.                        Web: <http://bill.herrin.us/>
Falls Church, VA 22042-3004

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