[MLB-WIRELESS] DNS: What is our zone going to look like?

[mw at freenet.net.au]

Good evening,

> Perhaps just 'www' and 'ftp' then. That would be the most obvious choice
as
> they would be the most common thing used.

NO!  Not even those.  Why bother!  It's more trouble than it's worth -
drawing lines in the sand is a bad idea - better to have no lines at all -
no arguments then! ;-)

> I mean you would go to "ftp.kbn.wireless.org.au" (or whatever it ends up
> being) which is just the ftp server on the kbn node.
> But what happens if there is
> "ftp.wireless.org.au" ? Which just happens to be a node AND a service on
> the wireless.org.au domain? Where does it go to?

Doesn't matter - it's only a hostname...  What 'will happen' depends on the
application used to connect to it.

If you use an ftp client to connect to a web server, will it connect?  It
will if the web server happens to have an ftp server running onit.

What happens if you try to point a web server to ftp.duxtel.com.au?  Try it
and see!  What about shop.duxtel.com.au?

The hostname is technically irrelevant to what services are available.

> But allowing for the "average user" who hears about melb wireless and it's
> abundance of free offline content to access (say in 1-2 years time or
> something) and they think "Oh, there's an FTP server out there... let's
see
> what's on it!"
> 
> user navigates to ftp.geelong.wireless.org.au and gets a Node HTTP page
for
> node FTP

So what?

It is more likely, anyway, that whoever is lucky enough to have that domain
will find themselves with a useful bit of real estate, and there will be a
few interests fighting over access to it - just like whoever happens to have
had the foresight to register "wireless.org.au" ;-)

> Yet on "geelong.wireless" you have configured a ftp server that is a local
> mirror per-se of a central one in Melbourne to enable speedier transit
> times!

I fail to recognise the importance of this point.

> The above is hypothetical, but I talk to people who know very little about
> the internet, but know what WWW & FTP is at the least.
> So just the two primary "common" ones that an average net junkie would
use.
> IE: One who likes to download files from node or iiNet file servers, but
no
> nothing of mail configuration / ssh / vpn etc.

It really doesn't matter in the least what it is called.

Cheers.