You know, concerns over global name spaces and architectural purity are
valid to the engineer/operator. But to Joe User who just got his first
cable modem and got rid of AOL, he just wants to connect his computer
to the Internet. Then he wants to share that connection with his kids'
computer and their $50 e-bay printer server.
That's why so many of the little NAT gadgets are sold. Because Joe User
doesn't want to shell out extra bucks for more IP addresses and Joe
User needs simplicity.
Also _most_ average users just want to browse the web, get their email,
download software, and maybe exchange music files.
It is up to the networking professionals to make sure Big Company X and
Big Company Y connect when and where they have to. But its up to Joe
User to manage his home network.
Lets try to at least make that simple for Mr. and Mrs. Joe User.
Funny. I believe that is why the cable companies are giving each user
5 or 6 IP addresses. To make it easy so that the end user doesn't
need to know how to manage a NAT.
The answer is to give people the address space they need, not force
them to understand the subtle problems that are caused by the use of
NATs.
You have no idea how many students complain that they can't access
campus services due to the fact that Kerberos can't work through a
NAT.
Jeffrey Altman * Sr.Software Designer C-Kermit 7.1 Alpha available
The Kermit Project @ Columbia University includes Secure Telnet and FTP
http://www.kermit-project.org/ using Kerberos, SRP, and
kermit-support(_at_)kermit-project(_dot_)org OpenSSL. SSH soon to
follow.