Iljitsch van Beijnum writes:
And in reaction to other posts: there is no need to make the maximum
address length unlimited, just as long as it's pretty big, such as
~256 bits.
But there isn't much reason to not make it unlimited, as the overhead
is very small, and specific implementations can still limit the actual
address length to a compromise between infinity and the real-world
network that the implementation is expected to support.
The point is not to make the longest possible addresses,
but to use shorter addresses without shooting ourselves in the foot
later when more address space is needed.
Use unlimited-length addresses that can expand at _either_ end, and
the problem is solved. When more addresses are needed in one
location, you add bits to the addresses on the right; when networks
are combined and must have unique addresses, you add bits on the left.
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