[dns-operations] Why are cnames called "canonical" names?

[Randy Bush]

> from RFC2181:
> 
> 10.1.1. CNAME terminology
> 
>     It has been traditional to refer to the label of a CNAME record as
>     "a CNAME".  This is unfortunate, as "CNAME" is an abbreviation of
>     "canonical name", and the label of a CNAME record is most
>     certainly not a canonical name.  It is, however, an entrenched
>     usage.  Care must therefore be taken to be very clear whether the
>     label, or the value (the canonical name) of a CNAME resource
>     record is intended.  In this document, the label of a CNAME
>     resource record will always be referred to as an alias.

another demonstration that pedants should be strangled at birth

randy