Re: Alternatives (was Re: whois broke again?)

[bmanning () vacation karoshi com]

> > bmanning () vacation karoshi com
> > Sent: Monday, February 21, 2000 5:11 PM
>
> > > While I think that Bill Manning's DNS TXT suggestion is clever, and
> > > nicely distributed, it requires a lot of effort.
> >
> >     actually, I think both efforts have about the same level
> >     of effort.  In one case, its concentrated in a single place,
> >     in the other, its all over the place.
>
> The nice thing about central is that things will get done, or not done,
> consistantly. You tend to strike a closure point at some time. In the
> distributed "all over the place" model, things may never be consistent, nor
> will they ever be complete. It is also difficult to enforce quality
> standards.

        Hum, is this an argument for reconsituting "Ma Bell"?
        One of the strengths of the Internet is its distributed nature.
        And the trend is in this direction with the addition of new
        IP aware products (cell phones, networked "gadgets", et.al.)
        Trying to retain a centralized structure is (IMHO) doomed to 
        failure.  Its better to have broadly available standards that
        can be enforced at the provider/subscriber boundary and then
        let the market "bloom" rather than have a single forcing function
        that everything must run through before proper operations can
        occur.
        
        We might as well argue for the reconstitution of the InterNIC
        and the abolishment of RIPE, APNIC, ARIN. You'll get "things ...
        done, or not done consistantly." and will "strike a closure point
        at some time".  

        Striking the balance is hard but I expect that the trend is away
        from centralized services.

        again, YMMV.

--bill (going offline for a while)