Tony,

On Dec 4, 2013, at 4:36 AM, Tony Finch <d...@dotat.at> wrote:
> David Conrad <d...@virtualized.org> wrote:
>> Haven't we been here before (e.g., .bitnet/.csnet/.uucp)?
> To me this sounds a lot like private namespaces in the DNS which
> correspond to private networks - the analogy being that these special
> non-DNS names often correspond to special overlay networks (as in Tor and
> GNUnet).

Yes, except they aren't really private -- they're public but only if you 
know/have installed the right magic bits.

> So you need to have the p2p software in order to use the overlay network
> and to resolve the names. If your system doesn't know about the
> specialness of the name then it won't resolve properly but you would not
> be able to use it if it did resolve properly.

Yes. And, of course, "won't resolve properly" most likely means sending a query 
to the root and getting back an NXDOMAIN. Last I checked, the "L" root server 
is getting about 2000 queries per second for ".local" (about 7 Mbps in DNSSEC 
signed outbound traffic if my math is right). To be honest, given the crap that 
hits the roots these days, I'm not sure this matters all that much but it 
probably should be a consideration.

> If an application needs the special connectivity, then it needs to require
> the special support software.

My concern is that given the names in question look like domain names, 
particularly now in the days of new gTLDs, even though they aren't _really_ 
domain names (in the sense that they can't be looked up in the domain name 
system), they'll be treated like domain names leading to 
confusion/interoperability problems. If I send my Pointed Haired Boss a note 
referencing pictures of him with farm animals on photos.onion, he may try to 
click/cut-paste that "domain name" in a browser. If he doesn't have the .onion 
overlay software installed and configured, he's likely to be 
disappointed/confused/angry (at least with .local if my PHB is an English 
speaker, he might have a hint). The DNS community spent a lot of time back in 
the days of alternate root proposals arguing this sort of confusion would be a 
bad thing. I figure it's still bad.

Regards,
-drc

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