general availability has nothing to do with "being used"
agreed. but unlike OSI, there are reasons for applications
to use IPv6. however the applications that use IPv6 may
not be as visible as many of those applications that use IPv4 -
for instance IPv6 will be used more often for monitoring
and control of remote devices and sensors - applications for
which address space shortages effectively preclude use of IPv4.
the OSI protocol implementations were available on all major
platforms at the time.
and "available" has nothing to do with either "useful" or
"bundled with the OS" :)
if "two ships in the night" is an acceptable transition strategy,
then why did we place all the stupid compatability rules on
the protocols??
because it is very useful to be able to do packet-level translation
for those devices/applications that are compatible with it. the
fact that packet-level translation doesn't facilitate v4-v6
interoperation for all applications doesn't mean it's not useful.
of course "two ships in the night" was not what was originally
intended, it's just what turned out to be realistic in the short
term. and it doesn't preclude an eventual translation in the long
term, it just makes it easier to get started.
the point was if people get stuck on the end goal of a complete
transition to v6, then they can miss the fact that IPv6 has utility
for new applications even while we're waiting for the IPv4 world
to migrate. and this utility can help drive near-term deployment of
IPv6.
this whole thing is intellectually bankrupt.
many good ideas were shouted down because they didn't meet
some Athenean standard purity, yet when the sanctified answer
is found to have a much worse case of Failure to Solve the
Real Problems, those standards are completely suspended and
victory is declared again and again without regard to history.
Ya know, if we'd just done TUBA, we'd have gotten to this
degree of non-success MANY YEARS sooner and with a lot less
wasted effort. then the effort and time would have been
available to pursue a real Plan B.
but that was then, this is now.
lots of water under the bridge since then. and the circumstances
have changed drastically since the shape of the IPv6 design was frozen.
even with less ambitious efforts, it seems that we often end up
using protocols in ways that are very different from those for
which they were designed.
and the correct path is always more obvious in hindsight.
In the movie "Animal House", in the closing sequence where
the homecoming parade is being decimated by the unwelcomed
arrival of a swift kick of reality, the Junior Deputy Chief
of Truth Management is seen in quick cut after quick cut,
jumping up and down, screaming "All is well!!!!" louder and
with more anguish each time, until he's finally bowled over.
maybe we should just yell "For god's sake, they're looting the Food King!"
to distract those who can't deal with it.
Keith