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SubjectRe: DHCPD v1.3 needs testing (fwd)
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> There wasn't an existing API. I was _horrified_ when I found out how broken
> dhcpcd was in its way of working. And nobody changed an API, Alexey just
> added some IP standards compliance which broke an application doing what
> are basically broken things - although I can see why you did it that way.

The BOOTP and DHCP standards are both written specifically so that
network address bootstrapping can be done way the Internet Software
Consortium DHCP client and dhcpcd (and bootpd, for that metter) do it.
You were not out of compliance with the standard, other than that you
shouldn't have been answering or sending ARPs for 0.0.0.0.

> BPF type stuff is in 2.1.x. It wasn't useful once.

Yes, that's what you said. But it would have been useful to me back
when you were saying it wasn't useful, and if you'd been willing to
support it then, I wouldn't have to support two completely different
APIs for Linux now.

> Someone has done a nice SOCK_PACKET based change to dhcpcd that seems to
> work well for 2.1.x and 2.0.x

Yeah. Great. Yet another API. Thanks a lot. It's true that
supporting each additional API is a Simple Matter Of Programming, but
The Internet Software Consortium DHCP server and client have to
support a dozen different operating systems, currently with four
different APIs. Linux is a free operating system, done by people who
ought to know better. There's no reason for you to be using an
incompatible API, yet you are. Shame on you.

> If I made you send me $500 for each time I break your program then maybe
> you'd have a vague point.

Time is money. It generally costs the ISC on the order of $500-$2k to
support a new API, so you're not far off. And Microsoft has yet to
produce a documented API that will allow me to support DHCP, so
they've dodged that particular bullet... :') Also, they generally
break one's programs in more than one way for each $500, so it should
be less than $500 per new bug introduced.

> I also don't charge $99 an email for answering queries or requests
> for fixes

Neither do I. Which is fortunate for the Linux community, since most
of the questions I answer on the DHCP mailing list are questions about
how to work around Linux network problems. I'm not saying this to be
mean - it is partially a reflection of Linux' popularity, but still,
I'd prefer that there not be bugs to work around.

> although direct those to the current networking maintainers rather
> than me

So it wasn't you who decided to deprecate the use of 0.0.0.0 for
bootstrapping? I was under the impression that this was your
decision. I'm sorry if I've been directing my angst at the wrong
person... :')

_MelloN_

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