Re: NZ whois server

On the 'liberal in what you accept' precept, I'd say that the server should either respond with the info, followed by somthing like % NOTE: Your whois client does not conform to the standard. % It failed to terminate the query string properly or even just provide the carp message and decline to provide the information, which is less helpful but more of an incentive to fix the broken client. In other words, if we want to throw rocks at the server, the most we can really complain about is that it failed silently when could have been a little more voluble. I'm no fan of 'liberal in what you accept'='I am a doormat, abuse me as you will, I will add code to work around your mistakes' for three reasons. 1. If the client writer doesn't know there is a problem, they can't fix it. 2. The server suffers code bloat. 3. When second-guessing what the client actually meant, it may well get it wrong (doesn't apply this time). However, if they are going to open the code to make the change you suggest though, the formating of the output could use some work. IMHO it's the ugliest whois server output I've ever seen, not to mention the most verbose. But as Don says, there are other things that need fixing more. -- Michael Newbery Technology Manager Saturn Communications Tel: +64-4-939 5102 Mobile:021-642 957 Fax:+64-4-939 5100

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Don Stokes - 30/5/00 6:38 PM >>> "Robert Gray" wrote: It's not BUFFOONZ but RIPE who's out of step with the rest of the world. I should have known ;)

Well, in this case, the RFCs are on Domainz's side, not RIPE's. Not to mention every other whois client on the planet which sends CRLF at the ends of their queries, as required by reputable network protocols the world over. Andy Linton writes:

"Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send"

Indeed, hence the suggestion that it be made to terminate on any control character. But I suspect that there are higher priorities at the moment than making the whois server talk to non-compliant clients. (It's not my code.) -- don --------- To unsubscribe from nznog, send email to majordomo(a)list.waikato.ac.nz where the body of your message reads: unsubscribe nznog --------- To unsubscribe from nznog, send email to majordomo(a)list.waikato.ac.nz where the body of your message reads: unsubscribe nznog