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From: Warner Losh <imp@bsdimp.com>
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Date: Fri, 8 Apr 2011 09:23:05 -0600
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To: Sergey Vinogradov <boogie@lazybytes.org>
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	Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:23:06 -0600 (MDT)
Cc: FreeBSD Hackers <freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org>
Subject: Re: ifconfig output: ipv4 netmask format
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On Apr 8, 2011, at 6:08 AM, Sergey Vinogradov wrote:

> Hi, hackers.
> I have a question: why ipv4 netmask is displayed by ifconfig in hex =
format? Isn't dot-decimal notation more human-readable? Will the =
attached patch break something in the very bad way?

This is a gratuitous change that would break scripts.  Hex has been used =
for a very long time, and most people know how to cope.

If we really wanted to make it human readable, we'd output 10.2.3.4/24

Warner