Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 13:14:18 -0500 From: Robert Sanders <rsanders@mindspring.com> To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Why RFC1323 is disabled on freefall and freebsd.cdrom.com ? Message-ID: <199601291814.NAA26266@interbev.mindspring.com> In-Reply-To: David Greenman's message of Mon, 29 Jan 1996 06:22:43 EST References: <199601291004.CAA29539@Root.COM>
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On Mon, 29 Jan 1996 06:22:43 EST, David Greenman <davidg@Root.COM> said:
> It is disabled on both machines because they are public FTP/WWW servers,
> and RFC1323 (and other TCP extensions) don't work for all people.
> It will remain disabled until such time that 99.999% of the people out
> there can deal with TCP extensions. Otherwise, we'll be getting way too many
> bug reports. Wcarchive, for example, serves 20000 people a day; I'm sure you
> can imagine the extremely high probability that more than one person per day
> will run into this problem. :-)
I earlier suggested that RFC1323 should be disabled by default in the
FreeBSD distribution. In fact, I suggested it for the very same
reasons that you disabled the RFC1323 extensions on the machines you
maintain. It's even worse to leave the extensions enabled in the
distributions; the average new FreeBSD user isn't in the know about
the broken TCP stacks out there, and just sees that his shiny new BSD
box can't use the network as well as Linux.
The only places I see this timebomb mentioned is a cryptic comment in
/etc/sysconfig and the FAQ under this heading:
10.10. I'm having problems with my NeXTStep machines and other
FreeBSD ones accross PPP
...which may not describe the problem at all. For example, under
-current I can't finger an AIX box without disabling RFC1644. No
terminal server required.
The counter-argument to disabling TCP extensions by default was that
it would force vendors to fix their broken TCP stacks. That may be
(though I doubt it), but it's much kinder to let our users consciously
choose whether to be anti-vendor weapons or have systems that work.
If nothing else, at least make this an option at install time or a
large red flashing sign saying "WARNING: TCP extensions enabled by
default, read manual section XX!"
Most users who run into this problem spend hours on it; if you value
your time enough (we all do!) to spare yourself the minutes a day it
would require to answer the complaints about freefall and wcarchive,
please value your users' time enough to spare them the agony of
rediscovering this dubious "feature" time and time again.
Thank you, and goodnight. You've been a great crowd :-)
mountains? molehills?
-- Robert
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