I'm not convinced that's true in practice. I would like to have an IPv6 network that I can connect Android devices to and on which I can connect to the devices by their host name. Android refuses to support DHCPv6, telling the local DNS server about SLAAC addresses involves awful and unreliable hacks, mDNS requires extra daemons and resolver configuration. I looked at just copying my v4 stack to v6; it doesn't appear possible.

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zamadatix 6 days ago | parent [-]

Android was nearly my real life example a la "IPv6 doesn't mandate anything be different, some guy at Android just likes doing things that way more". I.e. nothing needs to be changed in the IPv6 standard, there's just some guy on the Android team who really likes SLAAC and thinks DHCPv6 is an abomination.

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yjftsjthsd-h 6 days ago | parent [-]

Okay, but that's not useful. In practice in the real world you cannot run a v6 network the way you would a v4 network even if you want to. That you theoretically could go implement changes to bring them into line doesn't really affect that.

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zamadatix 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

I think we're saying the same thing except I'm splitting the blame from IPv6 (which was very much about adding more bits) and placing it on the unrelated hobby horses people like whats-his-name on Android ride in on. Intentionally not supporting DHCP in the new protocol had nothing to do with the design of IPv6, it's just something they prefer.

To put it from another perspective: If the situation was reversed would you be blaming IPv4 and saying IPv4 should have been designed differently or would you just be asking why this guy from Android doesn't want to add DHCPv4 when DHCPv6 is supported? In both situations it's not IPv4/IPv6 to blame for the inconvenience, it's the guy taking advantage of the transition between protocols to do something stupid at the same time. No amount of changing the definition of IP is going to make them like DHCP, they'll always push some SLAAC-like address assignment onto users. The only reason they didn't for IPv4 was they came in after it was already the way instead of before networks were deployed and they could force it.

It's often very difficult to use IPv6 in practice, but not because IPv6 made it that way.

	▲	yjftsjthsd-h 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		Oh, yes, we do (mostly) agree then. Thanks for clarifying:)

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6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

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