Bug#268631: force preference of IPv4 over IPv6

["Barak A. Pearlmutter" <barak@cs.nuim.ie>]

> ...  It doesn't belong in APT, it should be a global, system-wide
> preference.  I don't feel like adjusting the preferences of every
> single network program whenever I switch from a good IPv6 to a bad
> IPv6 network.

I absolutely agree.

> Barak: if IPv6 is much slower than IPv4, please adjust the
> preferences in /etc/gai.conf.  Just say
>
>   precedence ::ffff:0:0/96  100

That configuration file is impossible for non-super-uber-expert
programmers to find.

  $ man -k ipv6 | egrep gai | wc -l
  0

  $ man -k gai.conf
  gai.conf (5)         - getaddrinfo(3) configuration file

Preferring IPv4 over IPv6 should be the default.  If there is any
non-silly argument for not making it the default, I have not heard it.

Please feel free to switch this bug over to Package: libc6, which
holds /etc/gai.conf.

					Cheers,

					--Barak.
--
Barak A. Pearlmutter
 Hamilton Institute & Dept Comp Sci, NUI Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland
 http://www.bcl.hamilton.ie/~barak/