Re: 240/4

[Alain Durand <alain_durand () cable comcast com>]

On 10/17/07 3:38 PM, "michael.dillon () bt com" <michael.dillon () bt com> wrote:

> > 240/4 is tainted. The fact that some code exist somewhere to
> > make it work is good, but the reality is that there are tons
> > of equipment that do not support it.
>
> If you believe that, then don't use it.
>
> But don't dictate to me and everyone else what we can and cannot use in
> our networks. If somebody, somewhere, wants to use 240/4 then they
> should be allowed to do so without putting additional BUREAUCRATIC
> roadblocks in their way. IANA's failure to allocate 240/4 to RIRs is a
> bureaucratic roadblock. ARIN's failure to allocate 240/4 space to THOSE
> WHO DESIRE IT is a bureaucratic roadblock. IETF's failure to un-reserve
> 240/4 space is a bureaucratic roadblock.

If you use this stuff internally and don't tell anybody about it and nobody
ever know, you're fine. You do not need IANA, ARIN nor IET permission to do
that.

I suggest respectfully you re-read Randy's initial email. If you release
240/4 as public space, there are transitive issues. I care about having one
Internet, so this matters.


> > Classifying it as private use should come with the health
> > warning "use this at your own risk, this stuff can blow up
> > your network". In other words, this is for experimental use only.
>
> This is ridiculous and untrue. There is no evidence that 240/4 addresses
> will blow up anything.
> A while back people reported on the NANOG list
> what happened when they tried to use them. Short answer, nothing
> happened.

This is not my recollection. I, and others, tried it on many platforms and
it did not work. Try it again on a windows XP box.

> That's why vendors need to take out the one line of code that
> disables these addresses.

This is not enough to put it safely into production. All equipment &
software will have to be tested and certified. This takes time & energy.

> And the buggy-whip manufacturers like you can
> just safely ignore the whole business.

I'd appreciate if you did not insult me.

   - Alain.