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Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 10:49:09 -0700 (MST)
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To: louie@TransSys.COM
From: "M. Warner Losh" <imp@bsdimp.com>
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cc: arch@freebsd.org
cc: des@ofug.org
Subject: Re: Allow underscores in DNS names 
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In message: <200303301623.h2UGNHDN042824@whizzo.transsys.com>
            "Louis A. Mamakos" <louie@TransSys.COM> writes:
: > In message: <xzp4r5ljitl.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no>
: >             des@ofug.org (Dag-Erling Sm=F8rgrav) writes:
: > : "M. Warner Losh" <imp@bsdimp.com> writes:
: > : > When this has come up in the past, it was decreed that _ is a b=
ad bad
: > : > bad bad idea, even though people want it.  You might want to ch=
eck the
: > : > ancient archives (1998?) for all the reasons why.
: > : =

: > : Arguments presented in ancient archives are not necessarily relev=
ant
: > : five years later.
: > =

: > True.  However, they are still relevant today.  '_' is illegal in D=
NS
: > names, is rejected by the majority of hosts on the internet and
: > generally is a bad idea.  If you do it, make it optional.
: =

: Strictly speaking, the '_' is illegal in HOSTNAMES.  The DNS can cont=
ains
: objects other than those used as hostnames, and the protocols support=

: arbitrary strings of octets which can be used as labels in DNS names.=

: =

: It's the application of looking up host names using the DNS which is
: in question.  And if underscore characters are so toxic in hostnames,=

: then why are they allowed in /etc/hosts or NIS-dervied lookups?

The question is one of standards conformance and what implementations
of DNS do when they get an illegal character.

Warner