Re: Woody IPv6 problem finally, really, solved
On Fri, 27 Sep 2002, Noah L. Meyerhans wrote:
> No, this is a bug. Or at least, the fact that you can't
> turn IPv6 lookups *off*, even if you're running an IPv4-only
> host, is a bug. There is absolutely no point in performing
> an extra DNS lookup when you can't even use the result.
> Since DNS lookups are expensive, this can lead to a fairly
> noticable performance hit.
This seems obvious to me, but the developers did not seem to be
interested. However, yesterday a long and interesting thread has
broken out on the ipv6 developers list about this very problem.
It is interesting because it provides some insight into the
reasons why this "feature" was introduced. It had indeed
something to do with "ipv6 is the wave of the future, and you'd
better ride on it".
However, opinons are divided, and Wichert Akkerman, at least,
now thinks it is a bug. The question is where the bug really is:
in all the applications that are now in the process of being
"upgraded" to ipv6 (as telnetd and exim have already been) or in
something "central", like libc. My guess is that it is the
former, but the jury is still out..
Regards, Jan
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