WHAT KIND OF SH*T IS THIS: telnet and ssh

[Bob Johnson]

Chris Hodgins wrote:

> Ion-Mihai Tetcu wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 17:47:31 -0500
>> "Fafa Diliha Romanova" <fteg at london.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> let's get straight to it:
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes:
>>
>> 1, post to the appropriate list(s) (bugs at fFreeBSD.org is not, at least
>> not w/o a PR).
>> 2. Double-check before reporting.
>>
>>
>>> whenever i telnet or ssh to something that's offline, i get e.g.:
>>> ssh: hostname.domain.com: hostname nor servname provided, or not known
>>
>>
>>
>> here it says:
>>
>>> ssh itetcu at hostname
>>
>>
>> ssh: connect to host hostname.doa.ain port 22: Operation timed out
>>
>>
>
> I am seeing what Fafa sees:
> $ ssh ewlkjfsd
> ssh: ewlkjfsd: hostname nor servname provided, or not known
>
> $ telnet sdfklh
> sdfklh: hostname nor servname provided, or not known
>
When you try to connect to a host whose name DOES NOT EXIST in the DNS 
system, you get the error message Fafa is complaining about.  For 
example, if you type a host name wrong, or just make up a host name.

When you try to connect to a legitimate host that is offline (i.e. its 
name exists, but the host is not on the network at the time), you get 
the "timed out" message.  The difference is significant and important 
when you are trying to figure out what went wrong. 

Fafa's use of the word "offline" to describe a host that doesn't exist 
at all was not accurate.  It is also not generally productive to be rude 
when asking VOLUNTEERS to help you.  The likely response is "fix it 
yourself", which is my suggestion for this case.

- Bob