*> Shankar Agarwal <ashankar(_at_)cisco(_dot_)com> wrote:
*> >
*> > Can anyone tell me why the minimum value of the pointer in the LSSR
option
*> > is 4. It says that it points to the next address with respect to the
option
*> > field. Then shouldn't it be 3 (option type + length + pointer) rather
then 4.
*> > Similarly for the pointer in the timestamp option it says that
*> > "The Pointer is the number of octets from the beginning of this
*> > option to the end of timestamps plus one (i.e., it points to the
*> > octet beginning the space for next timestamp). The smallest
*> > legal value is 5. The timestamp area is full when the pointer
*> > is greater than the length."
*>
*> The pointers are 1-based, i.e., a pointer value of 1 would point to the
*> option type.
*>
*> //cmh
*>
*>
Yes.
Some years ago I twigged Jon Postel about this precise issue. As I
recall, he shrugged his shoulders and said something like "Well, I made
a choice, maybe not the choice I would make today, but... [that's the
way it is, learn to live with it!].
(The part in [] is my interpretation of his shrug).
Bob Braden