[dnsext] Tao and Re: BADVER/FORMERR

[Edward Lewis <[e-mail]>]

At 11:49 +1100 11/16/11, Mark Andrews wrote:
>..."Michael Sheldon" writes:

>>  ...what part of any RFC defines what should be returned on
>>  a QUERY where QDCOUNT == 0? ... it's not defined at all.
>
>Actually if you follow the algorithm you end up with NOERROR.  Most of
>the steps become no-ops.

I can see what Mark is saying but I don't think it is the only possible answer.

One problem with this thread is that it is taking the RFCs too 
literally.  From FYI17 (The Tao) what's more important than the 
written word is running code.  With the goal of the IETF documents to 
document what it means to be interoperable, the place to start when 
looking at gaps in the documents is "what does running code do" and 
then come to a consensus.

I.e., because you can interpret the RFC to mean something when it 
says nothing is a flimsy place to start an argument.

Part of my motivation to post here is that I've spent a lot of time 
over the past year wading through paper trails trying to find details 
of the protocol, details relating to things like the KX record and 
other vestigial components.  Comparing what the text comes up with to 
popular implementations, I found that the running code does not 
always meet the specification.  The problem here isn't the code being 
non-conformant, it's the specifications falling behind.  (If it were 
the other way around, we'd see operational hang ups.)  From this, I 
wouldn't take the specifications to be that literal.

I'd suggest going back to "what do we think the right response to an 
empty Question section should be" and then see if the installed code 
base is acceptable as is, and then document any decisions.
-- 
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Edward Lewis
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