The Routing Over Large Clouds Mailing List Archive by date

[Grenville Armitage <gja@thumper.bellcore.com>]

Paul,

	[..]
>>The reason media information should be lacking is to make it impossible
>>for people to commit the mistake that's in your earlier note!
>>
>>"...identifies the media type, which also identifies the address type..."
>>That simply is not true.  And that is the experience Dave and I were
>>referring to.
>>
>>Would you give Ethernet and FDDI different media types?

Yup.

>>If yes, note
>>that they use the same address type, so your equating of media type
>>and address type is not valid.  If no, then what does "media type" mean?

This is silly reasoning, and is not what I wrote.

The quote from me above means:

	ar$hrd = X, media is Ethernet, address is 48 bit MAC.
	ar$hrd = Y, media is FDDI, address is 48 bit MAC.
(and of course)
	ar$hrd = Z, media is ATM, address is either E.164 or NSAPA.

What's wrong there? I never said that a different ar$hrd value
has to mean a different address type from any other ar$hrd value.
I dont know why anyone in their right minds would assume it had
to.

Your whole concern is predicated on an assumption that has
no good reason for being made. So it was made in the early days
of ARP. So it was dumb. Do you think no body has learned, or
that we cant stick clarificatory text in the IANA numbers document?

gja