[KLUG Members] SuSE, Zeroconf, and the 'local' Domain

[Adam Tauno WIlliams]

> > > > So, what does this have to do with the 'local' domain? Just this:
> > > > instead of resolving it through the regular channels, SuSE's resolver
> > > > library tries multicast DNS instead, as noted above. As near as I can
> > > > tell, this is NOT a configurable option; it's written right into the
> > > > resolver library, and that's that.
> > > Yep.  I'm afraid your fighting the tide.  Multicast DNS is in the
> > > resolver, the GNOME-VFS subsystem, and other places too.  This is pretty
> > > much part & parcel 'service discovery'.
> > Take a look at http://gnomedesktop.org/article.php?sid=1841 for some of
> > the resulting possibilities.
> Actually, the only possibility in which I'm interested is getting back
> control of my chosen private domain name. I don't give beans or barley
> for zeroconf.

Word on the street is that SuSe will be releasing an 'updated' glibc
package where the mdns support can be disabled;  I assume as some type
of NSS flag.

> it. Presto! '.local' works again! (Make sure you're not running any
> networking software while doing this, kids, but that's another story) So
> what we have is a fundamental change to the C library to implement one
> particular technology. I thought this was the sort of reason I got away
> from Microsoft. Sorry, it's just not the way to do it. You want it? Make
> it an option. Make it configurable. 

Agree, it should have been configurable;  and gotten s big notice
somewhere as DNS is not something to play around with.

> Make it a switch in resolv.conf or
> nsswitch.conf or whatever file seems most appropriate. It doesn't belong
> in a core library. Even .com doesn't get that kind of privelege, does
> it?

I think the only place it will work is at the resolver level,  but it
should be configurable.  But I'd suspect that OTHER software will begin
to make the same assumptions about ".local",  so in the future it might
be less painful to choose something else.
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