[leafnode-list] Re: Disabling The "Is Valid FQDN" Check

[Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 2 May 2011 15:37:56 +0100 Sabahattin Gucukoglu
<mail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I can see that the fQDN validation is well-intended, but in my case it's
> unwelcome because: 1.  I use zeroconf networking, that puts my machine
> in the ".local" domain, and makes changing it globally unwanted and
> difficult. 

It's so long since I last installed Leafnode (my present installation has 
been running for at least 4 years) that I can't remember; does Leafnode 
refuse to run if the "hostname" of the machine isn't an FQDN?  I'm quite 
sure it doesn't require the machine to have a name that can be found on a 
public DNS server - mine certainly can't!

Man leafnode includes this:

    hostname = host.domain.country
        If your messages do not already have message IDs  (generated  by
        the  newsreader),  Leafnode will generate a message ID for them.
        However, it will never ever overwrite an existing message ID. By
        default,  it  tries  to  do this from the name of your computer.
        However, some upstream servers demand message IDs of  a  certain
        type.  In  this case, you can override the name of your computer
        by setting "hostname" to a sensible value.  The  abuse  of  this
        option  can cause your upstreams to silently drop your postings!

Surely it isn't difficult to put something in there that works?  The 
address of your upstream news-server shouldn't be objected to by anyone.

> 2.  Anyway, my upstream server rewrites my message-ids,
> making the need to pick a name, pointless.  

Ghastly!  Change to a news-server that behaves better.  Having MIDs that 
can be identified as yours, is an important part of your usenet identity.

> And, 3.  I do not like the
> idea of using a name - any name - not under my control, whether it
> exists in DNS or not.  MSGids must be globally unique, not valid; this
> is the new reality.  It is exactly the same thinking that makes any
> valid domain or domain name portion in munging a very bad idea.

I agree that the usenet and NNTP systems don't seem to break when MIDs have
nonsense to the right of the @ character.

An FQDN doesn't have to be listed on any DNS server; it doesn't even have 
to be unique to one machine.  I think something like mycomputer.local is a 
perfectly valid FQDN; it's certainly fine for a "hostname", as far as I 
know.

> Please can we have a feature in future leafnode releases that, while
> defaulting to on, makes it entirely possible to disable at runtime.
> Just like we have with the allowStrangers option.  For now I am using my
> machine name in my own registered domain using the leafnode-only config
> option "hostname", but would sooner not assume an identity that isn't
> real, in DNS.
> 
> Cheers,
> Sabahattin

You have a registered domain name of your own and you're using it properly, 
as far as I can see.  Why do you object to that?

-- 
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
--  Whiskers 
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
-- 
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