[dns-operations] SUSPECT: Re: A Case Against DNSSEC (A Matasano Miniseries)

John Kristoff jtk at ultradns.net
Thu Apr 5 08:34:15 UTC 2007


The article says this:

  "The end-to-end argument in system design. It says that you want to
  keep the Internet dumb and the applications smart."

That is a common summarization of the e2e principle, but not a
correct one and it causes no end of confusion.  Some take a strong
stance on a different principle (the dumb versus smart net) than
that which they are claiming to really defend (e2e).  e2e is not
so much about what's dumb or smart, it is about where best to place
functionality. Subtle difference in wording, but sigificant in
meaning especially when talking about the internals of the network.
This difference is particularly important when talking about systems
like routing, but also perhaps DNS and the relevant aspects of this
discussion.

John



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