hi -- i'm not subscribed to netdev, so this probably won't make it to the list. that's probably okay.
> > All ARP packets (*replies* as well as requests) that contain a Link- > > Local 'sender IP address' MUST be sent using link-layer broadcast > > instead of link-layer unicast. This aids timely detection of > > duplicate addresses. An example illustrating how this helps is given > > in Section 4. > > > > Ok, its a little more than grat arp (which i assumed it was). However, > the cause-fatale given in section 4 for why you wanna broadcast does > sound very lame. To quote: You do this in case "two disjoint network > links are joined". > I translate this to mean that somehow someone is going to take two hubs > or two switches of already established connections and join them > together and therefore linklocal addresses in one broadcast domain will > possibly conflict with linklocal in the other - it didnt seem practical > at all. I could be wrong and there maybe other cases not mentioned in > the RFC where you would need to do this. Hopefully, the original poster > can explain what kind of problems they saw that prompted the patch. i can't give an in-the-field example of a case where it has been observed to break, but i believe i have an example of where it might: picture a set of handheld devices all configured for the same ad-hoc wireless network. there's no AP in view, and no DHCP server. the devices do peer discovery by means of mDNS. as devices enter and leave the community's "range", networks may be merged and separated. this example is not entirely artificial -- the products i work on are sold into the automobile industry, for use in dealerships. while most dealerships with multiple wireless devices (these are handheld, and smaller, devices that aid in servicing the vehicles) will probably invest in an AP and router, that infrastructure is not required for the product to function correctly. if you only have a few devices, you might not need what most people would consider a "real" network. (of course, the fewer the devices, the less likely the bug being discussed is to occur, but...) paul =--------------------- paul fox, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (arlington, ma, where it's 48.9 degrees) - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe netdev" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
