Desired behaviour of "ifconfig -alias"
Freddie Cash
fcash at ocis.net
Tue Feb 13 17:22:14 UTC 2007
On Monday 12 February 2007 11:57 pm, Oliver Fromme wrote:
> Kevin Way wrote:
> > Oliver Fromme wrote:
> > > But you called it "confusing". That's just your personal
> > > perception. It doesn't mean it is confusing to everybody.
> >
> > If asked what -alias does, would you really reply "it removes the
> > primary IP,
> > while leaving the alias?" Be honest here.
>
> No, I wouldn't answer that, because there is no such thing
> as a primary IP. All IPs on an interface are equal. The
> term alias exists only for historical reasons, and it's
> clearly becoming obsolete.
>
> If asked what "-alias" does, I would reply that it is an
> alias for "delete" or "remove", which removes an IP address
> from an interface. According to the docs, the IP address
> to be removed must be specified. The docs don't mention
> what happens if none is specified, so the behaviour is
> undefined and should not be relied on. It just happens
[insert tongue into cheek]
Hmmm, so if the behaviour is undefined, and should not be relied upon, why
is everyone arguing to keep it as they rely upon it? :) If no one
should be relying upon this undefined behaviour, then why not fix it and
make it reliable?
--
Freddie Cash
fcash at ocis.net
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