Is a DHCP server "supposed to" be able to support a BOOTP client?

["John M. Wobus" <[e-mail]>]

In the FAQ, I put this:

         9. Is a DHCP server "supposed to" be able to support a BOOTP
            client?

            The RFC on such interoperability (1541) is clear: "In
            summary, a DHCP server: ... MAY support BOOTP clients,"
            (section 2). The word "MAY" indicates such support, however
            useful, is left as an option.

I added this to the FAQ because I occasionally saw people claiming
Microsoft's NT server is out of spec for not supporting BOOTP clients.
I screwed up the RFC reference: it is RFC1534 that makes that statement
(I'll fix that).  However, there is a statement in RFC1541 that causes
confusion and recently induced someone to challenge the FAQ.  It is
[RFC 1541, pages 6 & 7]:


   1.5 Design goals

      The following list gives general design goals for DHCP.

   ...

        o DHCP must provide service to existing BOOTP clients.

   ...

This doesn't suggest to me that DHCP servers that don't support BOOTP
are out of spec, but people do come to that conclusion.  I suggest that
however well this states the intended meaning, that it be made even
clearer.

I'll bring up another small point while I'm at it.  Someone once
challenged the FAQ for referring to "DHCP Relay Agents", saying that
while there is a "BOOTP Relay Agent", that there is no such thing as a
"DHCP Relay Agent".  I checked RFC1541 and discovered that it defines
"BOOTP Relay Agent" in the front, but in the text it often refers to a
"BOOTP/DHCP Relay Agent".  I also noticed that the draft has changed
these references to "BOOTP Relay Agent".  That is, all but one.  I
suspect that reference was simply missed by whoever fixed the
document.

Personally, I think attempting to supress the term "DHCP Relay Agent"
confuses as many people as blessing it would.  However, I don't feel
strongly enough on that point to want any debate on it.

-John Wobus