Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!ames!lll-winken!ssyx.ucsc.edu!ulmo
From: ulmo@ssyx.ucsc.edu (Brad Allen)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.uucp
Subject: Re: pathalias ignores fast Internet connections
Message-ID: <27059@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>
Date: 18 Jun 89 00:09:52 GMT
References: <1207@altos86.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV
Organization: no affiliation with UCSC
Lines: 74

[what UUCP Map & pathalias gives:]
> 	uunet!mtxinu!ucbvax!machine.berkeley.edu!user
> Clearly, the optimal route is:
> 	uunet!machine.berkeley.edu!user

It is a flaw in the UUCP Mapping project.  If it weren't, then I would know why
it wasn't because the UUCP Mapping project would have told me why not
(as a user) and how to do it right.  As it is, it is fairly flawed.

The way I have found to fix this is something like this, and though it is
a fairly exhaustive task in the beginning, it does have the desired result:
[Most of this is extremely incomplete, and although I'm sure it would help
my corner of the world a bit for pathalias, it deserves many more nets
and hosts listed.]

### pathalias input
INTERNET={ ARPANET, NSFNET, MILNET, CSNET }(130)

ARPANET={ someuucphost.arpa }(150)

NSFNET={ BARRNET }(110)

BARRNET={ UCSC-NET, Berkeley-NET, SU, Apple-NET, SRI-NET }(105)

SRI-NET={ UNIX.SRI.COM } (LOCAL)
Apple-NET={ Apple.com }(LOCAL)
Berkeley-NET={ ucbvax.berkeley.edu, ucbarpa.berkeley.edu, jade.berkeley.edu,
	agate.berkeley.edu }(100)
UCSC-NET={ ucscc.ucsc.edu, ssyx.ucsc.edu }(LOCAL)

# No host should be listed in the UUCP Maps here which does not understand UUCP
# bang notation and accept it -- i.e. the leaf nodes listed in this network tree
# are basically UUCP & Internet hosts.  (I could explain this better, but
# I don't feel like it now for the zillionth time.)
# All IP hosts listed in UUCP Maps would be incorporated into this.

# This data should be processed with -i on the pathalias line, as all pathalias
# data should.

# I did something like this I think and it worked very nicely:

INTERNET .AR(120), .ARPA(120), .AT(120), .AU(120), .BE(120), .BR(120), .CA(120),
	.CH(120), .CL(120), .COM(120), .DE(120), .DK(120), .EDU(120), .ES(120),
	.FI(120), .FR(120), .GOV(120), .GR(120), .IE(120), .IL(120), .IN(120),
	.INT(120), .IS(120), .IT(120), .JP(120), .KR(120), .MIL(120), .MX(120),
	.MY(120), .NET(120), .NL(120), .NO(120), .NZ(120), .ORG(120), .PT(120),
	.SE(120), .SG(120), .TH(120), .UK(120), .US(120), .YU(120),

# Well, I forget whether the (120) was good or not.  I could look into this
# further.  Pathalias also understands other mechanisms dealing with
# ".domain", which ought to be explored a little ...

Notes:  This is only an example.  It is not necessarily fit for installation.
I have done somewhat more exhaustive work on this before, about five times,
and each time I lost the data (host goes down, crashed disk, editor mishap,
mean administrator, etc.)

Someone should probably sit down and give this some thought and organize this
into the main UUCP Map distribution.
(I volunteer if people think this is needed and no one else does it.)

I think it would be appropriate if the current UUCP Maps listed a d.Internet
or something which basically defined all this stuff.  While a bit of
cross-updating between two networks would ensue, it would not entail too great
an effort since the only hosts listed would be gateways hosts, where
you would usually have to do redundant updating someplace anyway.


Things >would< be easier if all UUCP hosts had happy free Internet neighbors
within a fast free modem phone call away, and had domains with MX's
pointing to the Internet host, etc. etc. etc.  But right now there are still
messy areas.  As it is, I see lots and lots and lots of multiple Internet hops,
trans-continental and international crossings as result of UUCP maps,
which would mostly disappear except where appropriate with this addition.