Re: Confirmation to advance: draft-ietf-6man-ipv6only-flag-05

[Sander Steffann <[e-mail]>]

Hi Bjoern,

> It also says:
> 
>   A host MAY delay all IPv4 operations at start-up or reconnection
>   until a reasonable time has elapsed for RA messages to arrive.  If
>   all RAs received have the flag set to 1, a host SHOULD NOT attempt
>   IPv4 operations.

And that last bit is exactly where the problem is: it is too strong. Something like "If all RAs received have the flag set to 1, a host SHOULD NOT aggressively retry any failed IPv4 operations (like obtaining a DHCP lease) and operate without using IPv4 as much as possible to reduce unwanted/unnecessary IPv4 traffic on the network. Especially operations that transmit broadcast packets should be avoided to save the battery life of other devices on the network."

So, as has been suggested before: turn it from an off-flag to a useful heuristic. I will remain strongly opposed to a hard off-flag for the reasons explained previously. I still think Bert is right: "Not necessary, not sufficient, therefore, IMO, not needed." so I'll probably never be a supporter of this draft, but if we are talking about a heuristic then I can at least reevaluate my objections to see if we can reach consensus.

Cheers,
Sander