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Re: Change the subject! RE: [IAOC] Re: IPv4 Outage Planned for IETF71 Plenary

2007-12-30 22:39:00
I think you're reading more into my comments than was intended.  I'm
only speaking to the issue of how people who might be interested in
running IPv6 on Linux during the experiment, but are concerned the
process may be complicated or risky to their setups, may do so.  It
may not work on all hardware; there is some information at the Linux
on Laptops site (http://www.linux-on-laptops.com/) regarding known
working configurations.

FWIW, I reread Russ Housley's comments on the outage, and understand
it to be an experiment that is voluntary (but encouraged).  Perhaps
this needs to be stated differently (e.g. "IPv6 experiment planned for
IETF71 Plenary").

--gregbo

On Sun, Dec 30, 2007 at 07:22:39PM -0800, Hallam-Baker, Phillip wrote:
Why is it a useful exercise for me to try again an operating system I first 
used a quarter century ago?

I know operating system religious wars are fun but this is not an opportunity 
to make converts. Hard as you may find it to believe it is possible to have 
used a large number of os and onsider unix one of the worst. Nor is success 
in itself proof of excellence as sql demonstrates. 

At this point I have 10 ip addressable devices in the house, I cannot shift 
the printers or the vonage adapter to ipv4. Nor have I any intention of 
upgrading the four boxes running xp, they will run as is till they fail and 
be replaced.

One approach to deploying IPv6 is to try to persuade PHB to be more 
reasonable. Another is to accept that PHB is already far more reasonable that 
the vast vast majority of the billion odd internet users in the world and 
that rather than trying to persuade people to be reasonable one at a time we 
work out a deployment strategy that is likely to be acceptable to them.

No question it is a lot more fun doin enginering without deadlines or user 
requirements. But that is not the real world we have to work in.



Sent from my GoodLink Wireless Handheld (www.good.com)

 -----Original Message-----
From:         Greg Skinner [mailto:gds(_at_)best(_dot_)com]
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2007 01:44 PM Pacific Standard Time
To:   Hallam-Baker, Phillip
Cc:   IETF Discussion
Subject:      Re: Change the subject! RE: [IAOC] Re: IPv4 Outage Planned for  
IETF71 Plenary

Hallam-Baker, Phillip <pbaker(_at_)verisign(_dot_)com> wrote:

It is a question of ambition. At sixteen I was interested in mastering
the computer at its most fundamental level. I wrote arcade games in
6502 and Z80 assembler.

Today the idea of booting linux on a laptop would not make my top ten,
hundred or thousand list of must do before I die experiences. In other
words I have a life.

Actually, for someone with some Linux or Unix sysadmin experience, it
is not that difficult with Linux live distros.  Insert the CD- or
DVD-ROM with the distro in the CD/DVD drive and reboot. (It may be
necessary to tell the BIOS to boot from the CD/DVD drive; check the
laptop manufacturer's manual for the proper instructions.) Linux
should come up right away.  I used Ubuntu 6.06 and both IPv4 and IPv6
were enabled when the system came up.  Since I didn't have native IPv6
connectivity, I needed to build a tunnel.  The Linux+IPv6-HOWTO
documentation (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Linux+IPv6-HOWTO) was very
helpful.  I was able to confirm that I was using IPv6 by visiting
www.ripe.net at its IPv6 address and verifying my IPv6 address on
their page.

If you have little or no Linux or Unix sysadmin experience, I'd advise
going through the process before the meeting.  No changes will be made
to your hard disk (unless you make them).  If you get stuck, you can
always reboot and start over from scratch.

[snip]

Nor do I see any point in any test predicated on the expectation
that large numbers of people will ever learn about IPv6
administration.

I know what micrcode is, I have even written some.  I know the role
of microcode in VLSI design. If I was teaching a comp sci course I
would want the students to know all about microcode. That does not 
mean that I want or need the microcode for my cpu before I program it.

I don't know what lesson will be drawn here. The one I believe
should be drawn is that we need to ask what the problem we are really
trying to solve is.

Unfortunately, using a live Linux distro won't help people who need
what they normally use that isn't available on the distro CD (or can
be downloaded).  However, it can be a useful exercise just for getting
people to use IPv6 who might not otherwise.

--gregbo

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