On Sunday, November 24, 1996 2:27 AM, Paul A Vixie[SMTP:paul@vix.com] wrote: @ Jim. @ @ You do not understand even the difference between "recursive" and @ "resolves second level names." Why in the world do you expect @ anybody, anywhere, to give a rat's ass what you're doing or saying? @ @ Paul @ Paul, Because the 9 popular Root Name Servers are NOT configured as TRUE Root Name Servers, it is difficult to draw fine distinctions between recursion, iteration, referrals, etc. If you check pages 31 and 32 of the book, "DNS and BIND", by Paul Albitz & Cricket Liu you will not serveral statements which attempt to differentiate between "recursion" and "iteration". In one statement, they state, "In recursion, a resolver sends a recursive query to a name server...The queried name server is then obliged to respond with the requested data...The name server can't just refer the querier to a different name server, because the query was recursive." Because the 9 popular Root Name Servers are not configured as TRUE Root Name Servers (and also do not meet other basic Root Name Server requirements), it is a coincidence that they are able to avoid recursion and return information for the .COM, .NET, .ORG, .EDU, .MIL, .ARPA, etc. domains. When they do this, they appear to look like a "recursive" to another server or resolver that is using their services. I hope that we can agree that TRUE Root Name Servers should only return "referrals" to other Top Level Domain Name Servers. In the above book, this is considered "Iterative Resolution" because "a name server simply gives the best answer it already knows... it makes its best attempt to give the querier data that will help it continue the resolution process". While I continue to find it interesting that you always lower yourself to personal attacks, in apparent violation of the IETF Code of Conduct, I am not sure that your attacks help to educate Internet users. Your attacks also do not focus on the real problem which is the fact that the 9 popular Root Name Servers, used by many ISPs, are not properly configured as TRUE Root Name Servers. If you like, we can leave the complex terms, recursion and iteration out of these discussions. In the future, we can refer to TRUE Root Name Servers, as those that meet the technical requirements for being called a TRUE Root Name Server. If and when the 9 popular Root Name Servers ever meet these requirements, then we can refer to them as TRUE Root Name Servers, and everyone will understand that they do not return replys which appear to be the result of a recursive search, thus giving one the impression that they are recursive. -- Jim Fleming UNETY Systems, Inc. Naperville, IL e-mail: JimFleming@unety.net JimFleming@unety.net.s0.g0 (EDNS/IPv8)