Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf.edu!jst
From: jst@cca.ucsf.edu (Joe Stong)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Experimental Nameservice
Message-ID: <2559@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu>
Date: 9 Nov 89 10:23:16 GMT
Reply-To: jst@cca.ucsf.edu (Joe Stong)
Organization: Computer Center, UCSF
Lines: 37

What I'm offering is a temporary, experimental network service:
nameservice via telnet.

I have sympathy for those users who can't get internet numbers for
site names mentioned in NetNews articles.  I've been in this position
on machines that I don't administer.

To get an internet number for a known hostname:

telnet ccnext.ucsf.edu 5555
(your telnet gives a startup message)
enter-the-site-name-here
get.an.internet.number
Connection closed.

Our machine will do a live name resolution request, and return you the
result.  It doesn't get MX records.  It won't accept a string longer
than about 246 characters, due to a bug in the NeXT's resolver routines.

This service will disappear without notice, possibly in a few weeks.
It is running now.

The program is a simple gethostbyname and printf.  I'll be happy to hand
anyone the source.  Someone should be able to cook up scripts or VMS
DCL procedures or IBM CMS Procs or REXX procedures to wrap around 
basic services like telnet and ftp to automatically do resolution
before starting up the program.  I'd love to be sent copies of these
scripts. 

This service should be implemented eventually on machines LOCAL to the
one for whatever (economic, social, political, technical) reasons cannot
provide real resolver routines.

I don't want to run named here, this is a workstation.  Someone else
at UCSF publishes our domain directory.

	Joe Stong	jst@cca.ucsf.edu