Re: Final IPv4 Unicast Address Allocations

[Sabahattin Gucukoglu <[e-mail]>]

On 3 Feb 2011, at 19:44, IETF Chair wrote:
> There is no crisis, but there is a need for action so that the Internet can continue to grow.  The transition to IPv6 requires the attention of many actors.  However, our parents, spouses, and children will be largely unaware of the transition.  They will continue to be amazed of the endless possibilities offered by the growing Internet.  For them, this milestone will remain insignificant.

Putting aside any bumps in the transition itself, and noting that I'm quite sure the IETF is capable of sensible decision-making in times of crisis and would wish the transition to be as transparent as possible, I think it's more often the case that reconciliation to those who do not immediately see our passions is sometimes difficult, but ultimately possible.

I explained it to my social worker today, and he bookmarked the test IPv6 site, while connected to my home network with IPv6 enabled, and said he'd try it at work.  I explained it to my brother and sister-in-law, and prepared them for IPv6 from their ISP.  I urged every person who I was in contact with to give attention to the issues, and to be selective about who they did business with, as a precondition of acquiring new services and hardware, in order the better to further IPv6 wherever possible, and rightly so.  You want to be able to explain why this milestone is such a great achievement - maybe not with any immediate effect, but an achievement nonetheless - and make your unfortunate hearer understand it.  Perhaps then they'll understand what all the wasted time in revery of a great community of technical friends and colleagues is really all about.  It isn't for nothing that IPv6 is such great news; it will mean a better and more fulfilling Internet for everybody who it touches, including every member of your circle, and will bring them even closer together.  It is even quite surprising how many of them, inspired with that urgency, wish to understand it more completely than they might have otherwise, or try to imagine how a dotted-decimal address can actually be made longer. :-)

Cheers,
Sabahattin