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RE: [leafnode-list] What the hell is that?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matthias Andree [mailto:matthias.andree@xxxxxx]
> Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 7:02 PM
> To: leafnode-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [leafnode-list] What the hell is that?
<SNIP>
The introduction seems well written, and actually communicates this
issue more clearly to me than most anything else I've seen come
across the list.
> I have a fully qualified host name in /etc/hosts, but leafnode is not
using it!
> Well, it is probably the default name or domain that your OS vendor
> chose, like "localhost.localdomain". As such, it is not unique, but used
> on many computers, and therefore does not qualify as fully qualified
> domain name.
>
> How to get a unique fully-qualified domain name
> There are several ways to obtain one. See below on how to install your
> domain name.
>
> If you have a domain registered:
> Assume you are the rightful owner of example.com. You can now
> reserve any subdomain you wish, say mid.example.com, and a host name
> for your leafnode computer, say, abacus.mid.example.com. This host
> name need not be entered into your DNS information, just make sure
> only one computer uses this name at the same time.
>
> If you have an account at news.cis.dfn.de:
> You have been assigned a user ID. To figure your UID:
>
> telnet news.cis.dfn.de 119
> authinfo user sixpack
> authinfo pass joe
> quit
>
> Replace "sixpack" and "joe" by your login and password. After the
> "authinfo pass" line, you should see a line that reads:
>
> 281 Authentication accepted. (UID=00000)
>
> If you get a 481 line, please retry, you may have mistyped user name
> or password. Correcting these lines with Backspace or Delete may
> also lead to failed logins. Retry with careful typing so that you do
> not need to correct your input.
>
> 00000 shall be replaced by your actual user ID.
>
> Your hostname then is ID-00000.news.dfncis.de. DO MAKE SURE TO
> REPLACE THE NUMBER IN ID-00000 by the number the server told you in
> the UID= LINE.
>
> Ask your provider.
Ok, now I don't use leafnode on the internet, and on our local networks we
have uniquely named each system, so I don't have a configuration issue, but,
in following the messages of this genre since I've been on the list, I am
starting to get a feeling that were I to load leafnode on my system at
home, I might be in a quandary about how to pick a name...
Suggestions 1 and 2 are fairly self explanatory I suppose, but do not help,
I would guess, the lion's share of dial-up users. Perhaps suggestion 2
also applies to any news account that requires authentication, but, I'd
venture to guess that most large dial-up providers don't require
authentication for their news server.
So, here's the scenario:
I am on AT&T Worldnet's network. I don't have to authenticate to the
news server because I always access it through an AT&T dial-in connection
that is already authenticated.
Now, all that seems to be left to me by these instructions is:
> Ask your provider
Ouch.
Okay, I see your points more clearly now after your introduction text,
which, by the way, helps me see your point better than anything I've
seen you say up to this point.
It probably gets really annoying having people whine about this and
that when, as a developer, you know it is probably simply a configuration
issue.
Anyway, back to my theoretical problem. Do you honestly believe that I
am going to be able to call AT&T Worldnet, one of the larger internet
providers, and get anyone to give me a FQDN for free? Excuse me while
I burst out laughing hysterically. Now, are you also proposing that
Mom & Pop's internet service is going to do the same. Wow, this
_is_ really no laughing matter.
Is that _your_ problem? No, of course not.
Is that _my_ problem? Well, you are saying yes, but I wonder if it is
really that simple.
No other software that I use makes such a big point of making these
demands on me. The way I see your arguments, there is absolutely no
possible way that I can sit down and install/configure leafnode.
Granted, I do want to avoid the hassles of not being able to post
because of issues like this. But...
If indeed leafnode is not doing a DNS lookup, why is it not possible
to simply generate a highly unlikely host name that is based on my
providers name? This gives us an option 4 that would have a big
"WARNING" tacked on to it saying that such and such may eventually
happen if the selection is not unique enough.
So is there an actual reason why kevin.bulgrien.worldnet.att.net
or k.r.b.worldnet.att.net might not be a somewhat legitimate
hostname for leafnode? Granted, I might not want my name attached
to every message, but, I would say that it is a _reasonable_
probability that no two news servers (how many are there anyway)
on worldnet.att.net would pick exactly the same identifier if I
add at least one more dot to the name. Heck, I could do something
like grapes.wrath.worldnet.att.net and probably be safe. Certainly
worlds better than localhost.localdomain, eh?
Now, I _suppose_ I can see why you might object to something like
bjones.worldnet.att.net if my name was very popular... but, once
again, if we really think about it, how many bjones' are there
that are on worldnet.att.net that are actually running news
servers? On can certainly ping bjones.worldnet.att.net to
at least be sure that AT&T is not using that name...
But, again... adding one more dot changes the odds dramatically,
does it not?
I know that this probably flies in the face of DNS people every
where, but, significantly reducing the probability of FQDN issues
will probably more than significantly reduce the complaints that
you get sent...
Probably that #1 reason why I use free software (besides that it
is free) is because I can try it out without paying for it first
and getting stuck with something I hate. As a rule, if I was
absolutely forced to talk to AT&T to get a FQDN for my $20.00 USD
a month dial-up account, I would erase the software and get
something easier to install. (Do you care... probably not...)
Ok, well, feel free to shoot down this line of reasoning...
Summary:
Why not list as a possibility:
---
Generate an unlikely pseudo-FQDN by prepending a string (with at
least one embedded dot) and a dot to the actual domain name of
your internet provider.
WARNING: If you pick a string that someone else might use, you
may occasionally experience these problems:
1) ...
2) ...
If so, do not bother any one with complaints about why certain messages
do not work.
---
Kevin R. Bulgrien, Engineer
Mailto:kbulgrien@xxxxxxxx
Vertex RSI, A TriPoint Global Company http://www.tripointglobal.com/
Controls & Structures Division
1915 Harrison Road Tel: 903-295-1480 x288
Longview, TX 75604-5438 Fax: 903-295-1479
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