If the app is
going to insist on passing around topology information, it has to make
sure that matches the topology being used.
agreed. and by far the easiest way to do this is to have all points on
the network use consistent names for points in the network topology.
the real problem is that people have been conditioned to believe that
ambiguous addresses are a security feature, when what this actually
serves to do is reduce their ability to apply security in depth.
If the applications don't
need to know, and can function in a multiple-address-per-host
environment without --in the application-- having to determine
which one to use by some type of iteration process, then you
need to justify specialized addresses only in terms of their
requires lower in the stack. If the applications do need to
know, then the complexity costs appear to be high enough to
present an insurmountable barrier.
The current IPv4 network already requires this of applications, the
developers simply choose to ignore reality.
until recently 'reality' was that the vast majority of ipv4 hosts had
only one network interface, and one address, and most of the rest
of the hosts could act as if they only had one interface and one
address. so application writers were paying attention to reality, even
if they weren't handling (or able to handle) every case that might
potentially arise.
My primary issue is that there
are a variety of things people want to use SL for and removing an
existing mechanism without appropriate replacements for all of them
first is an irresponsible act.
we need a list of these things, so we can work on a list of
replacements.
Keith