Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!paul
From: paul@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (Paul Pomes - UofIllinois CSO)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains
Subject: Re: HINFO record consistency
Message-ID: <1990Nov28.025352.28252@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 28 Nov 90 02:53:52 GMT
References: <1990Nov27.234016.21510@terminator.cc.umich.edu>
Sender: news@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (News)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 38

bryan@terminator.cc.umich.edu (Bryan Beecher) writes:

>One problem with trying to use HINFO records for anything useful (at least
>on an inter-domain level) is that there isn't very much consistency between
>what various hostmasters place in them.  Some are fairly generic like
>"SUN" "UNIX" while others are more specific "Sun-3/50" "SunOS 3.5".
>
>Is there any semi-agreed upon convention for putting stuff in HINFOs?
>Is there a list of "proper" CPUs and OSs?  (There is a list at the NIC
>that's useful for HOSTS.TXT entries, but if I remember correctly, it's
>missing things that some people might like to have like Macs, PCs,
>Xterminals and other things.)

This may be a case of needless standarization.  Not everything worth doing
is worth doing well.  I like to put the maker and model in the CPU entry
since that doesn't change very often.  I use the most generic terms for the
OS since who wants to keep version numbers up to date?

Rather than focus on what is in HINFO records, it may be more useful to
explore where else they can be used.  At UIUC I've arranged to put a
HINFO record that gives the full name of each sub-domain, e.g., 
hinfo cso.uiuc.edu returns

cso.uiuc.edu	CPU = Computing_Services_Office	OS = NONE

This is handy for interpreting the sometimes cryptic abbreviations used.

In the same vein, host 0 in the in-addr.arpa files returns the name of the
subnet, e.g., 0.5.174.128.in-addr.arpa returns uiuc-dcl-net.uiuc.edu.  The
idea is to roll information typically found outside the DNS, /etc/networks
for example, into it.

/pbp
--
         Paul Pomes

UUCP: {att,iuvax,uunet}!uiucuxc!paul   Internet, BITNET: paul@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu
US Mail:  UofIllinois, CSO, 1304 W Springfield Ave, Urbana, IL  61801-2910