Re: draft-cmetz-v6ops-v4mapped-api-harmful-00.txt and draft-itojun-v6ops-v4mapped-harmful-01.txt

[Mauro Tortonesi <mtortonesi@ing.unife.it>]

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003, Iljitsch van Beijnum wrote:

> On vrijdag, sep 12, 2003, at 14:11 Europe/Amsterdam, Mauro Tortonesi
> wrote:
>
> >> So what's the alternative? Ripping mapped addresses out of current
> >> implementations doesn't make sense for many reasons.
>
> > sure, but we could deprecate usage of ipv4-mapped addresses.
>
> First of all, how does this make a difference in the world?

believe it or not, there are plenty of developers out there who are trying
to port apps to ipv6 in the correct way. this could be a very important
message for them.


> Second: you don't make the case for "harmful", only for "of little
> use". There is no need to go through all kinds of trouble to warn
> people something is hard to use.

__complete__ breaking of portability and decuplicated code complexity
are very harmful, IMVHO. especially if you're trying to push the early
adoption of ipv6 by the vendors.


> >> If you feel using the IPv6 socket API for IPv6 and the IPv4 socket API
> >> for IPv4 makes more sense, then by all means, do it that way. But for
> >> simple applications I think it's a huge plus to be able to talk to the
> >> network in a unified way without having to spend time and effort on
> >> making the IPv4/IPv6 distinction. Obviously this means you can't do
> >> any
> >> IPv6-specific stuff.
>
> > this could be a plus only for for very simple apps where the developers
> > don't care for portability or robustness.
>
> If you want to be able to write portable applications, why don't you
> talk to the OS builders?

because this is not an os builders' fault. it's the IETF specification of
IPv4-mapped addresses which is ambiguous.

this said, i cannot but strongly recommend the adoption of (at least one
of) the solutions proposed by draft-cmetz-v6ops-v4mapped-api-harmful-00.txt,
section 2 and 3.


-- 
Aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem...

Mauro Tortonesi                 mtortonesi@ing.unife.it
                                mauro@deepspace6.net
                                mauro@ferrara.linux.it
Deep Space 6 - IPv6 with Linux  http://www.deepspace6.net
Ferrara Linux User Group        http://www.ferrara.linux.it