[dns-operations] Documenting root slave operation Re: The (very) uneven distribution of DNS root servers on the Internet

[David Conrad]

Andrew,

On May 17, 2012, at 1:36 PM, Andrew Sullivan wrote:
> [rebuttals to suggested advantages]


I feel like this is going stuff already discussed so I won't bother going point by point as I suspect it would be a waste of both our time (particularly given your view as expressed below).

> I am claiming that there are, perhaps, best ways to do it, but that
> one shouldn't do it in the first place.  There's probably a best way
> not to get caught robbing banks, but I don't think we should publish
> manuals.  There's a best way not to get parking tickets while yet
> parking without paying, but I don't think we should publish manuals
> for that either.  This case lies somewhere between those examples.

This implies you believe slaving a root is (or should be) illegal. I would be surprised if you actually believed this.

It seems to me that since slaving the root is implemented today, will undoubtedly be implemented in the future, and that it can be argued (rightly or wrongly) to address some technical and non-technical issues related to root zone service, it would make sense to at least document the pros and cons, provide warnings on what to do and not do, etc.

Perhaps you would agree that there _may_ be benefits to slaving the root and that further study would be warranted (perhaps replicating/expanding upon the work David Malone did back in 2003 (http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~dwmalone/p/rootslave03.pdf))?

Regards,
-drc