[NANOG] Re: IPv6 Legacy IP Warning Stickers

[Mel Beckman via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

Jim,

But IPv4 is “legacy“, and IPv6 is “modern”, under the very definitions of these words. In fact, “legacy” is just a 
euphemism for “old-fashioned“, so people are already being kind to IPv4 in it’s dotage.

 (see what I did there? :)

 -mel

On Apr 1, 2025, at 3:56 PM, Jim Shankland via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org> wrote:

Thanks, John and Alex, for the thoughtful comments. Saying that "IPv4 continues to function because of IPv6" strikes 
me as particularly well put.

My point was not to argue against IPv6 (as I think I said), but to say that proselytizing for universal adoption with 
stickers and using tendentious phrases like "legacy" vs. "modern" addresses was unlikely to be effective. v6 will be 
deployed where it solves more problems than it creates. As John points out, that is not currently "everywhere", and 
likely won't be for a long time.

Jim

On 4/1/25 3:33 PM, Alex Buie via NANOG wrote:
Totally agree with John here - the sole reason that can has been able to
kicked is *because* so many carriers and devices have IPv6 support, and
netops are able to leverage them in situations where they fully control
both ends of the pipe. 659 million mobile phones in india. Imagine trying
to manage the RFC1918 space for that in a pure-IPV4 play. Sheesh. IPv6 also
enables really innovative mesh OTT services like
https://yggdrasil-network.github.io/ which allow me to build all sorts of
semi-local autonomous IPv6 nets around a "human scale" large property.

At the same time, I also 100% agree with Jim that nothing sells newspapers
faster than "the sky is falling", sky falling notwithstanding.

Alex

On Tue, Apr 1, 2025 at 6:03 PM John Curran via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>
wrote:

Jim -

There’s a huge difference between "IPv6 is being deployed” versus “IPv4 is
going away”…

IPv6 is necessary to solve a problem that most networks simply don’t
have:  i.e., how to handle millions of new devices connecting to your
network each and every year with no end in sight.  For folks making up the
core of the Internet that experience such problems, IPv6 is pretty much
essential – and its widespread deployment has taken an enormous burden off
requirements that otherwise would have overburdened the IPv4 address space.

So yes, IPv4 continues to function, but that’s not really “in spite of
IPv6” as “because of IPv6”.   There’s no reason that folks running IPv4
shouldn’t continue to do so unmolested – if the tool serves the purpose,
then that’s perfectly fine – as long as the requirements that you face
don’t change precipitously, you should be able to use IPv4 for all your
needs.  (This is particularly the case because the cost burden to
interoperate with IPv4-only devices continues to be borne by the IPv6
deployers, and that appears to be a reasonably safe assumption for the
foreseeable future.)

Thanks,
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers


On Apr 1, 2025, at 4:47 PM, Jim Shankland via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>
wrote:

I'm not a grumpy old man, but I'm going to play one for a minute.

The case for IPv6 was that the Internet was about to collapse, or at least
stall out, unless everybody switched over from IPv4. I don't remember when
I first heard that claim, but it was definitely in a year that started with
a "1".

It may be true eventually, too -- who knows, maybe even soon. And yes,
there's been plenty of pain and trouble "behind the curtain" along the way.
But zoom out to the big picture, and things are still working in IPv4 land.
IPv6 will take over (perhaps quickly) once that stops.

But until then, stickers and loaded language like "modern" and "legacy"
are unlikely to have any effect at all.

I hope it's clear that I'm not arguing against IPv6. I've just been
watching the "drop dead" date when the transition would be absolutely
forced get pushed back for half my professional career: 30 years of "any
day now".

Jim Shankland


On 3/27/25 10:07 AM, Lucien Hoydic via NANOG wrote:
Add RCN Chicago (Now Astound), to the list of companies that don't support
IPV6.

I'm not "Astound"ed by their lack of support for modern technology


On Wednesday, March 26th, 2025 at 1:00 PM, Andrew Latham via NANOG <
nanog () lists nanog org> wrote:


Today yet another ISP is running Fiber in the utility easement at the
street. I checked and they do not offer IPv6 or have ANY IPv6 peering.

I have offered the hard to find IPv6 Legacy Warning stickers on my
Redbubble profile. About a month before any meeting or event I see a bulk
order for Amish IPv6 stickers designed by Phil Benchoff and hard to find
post Google+. I have the markup/profit set to the lowest setting and have
made maybe $8 over 5+ years.

Linky:

https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/Legacy-IP-Warning-by-gringomalvado/38585698.EJUG5

Ranting a bit as I have four ISPs boxes at the street and two of them do
not have IPv6 in 2025. Converting my frustration into finding Phil and
sending him some coffee money.

--
- Andrew "lathama" Latham -
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