Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ames!lll-winken!uunet!jetson!john
From: john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US (John Owens)
Newsgroups: news.sysadmin
Subject: Re: CALL FOR VOTE, COMP.INTERNET.ADDR AND COMP.INTERNET
Message-ID: <209@jetson.UPMA.MD.US>
Date: 28 Mar 89 04:27:16 GMT
References: <2078@pikes.Colorado.EDU> <15805@oberon.USC.EDU> <1466@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>
Organization: SMART HOUSE Limited Partnership
Lines: 17

In article <1466@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, sob@watson.bcm.tmc.edu (Stan Barber) writes:
> WRONG. The HOSTS.TXT file contains those that MUST be listed, not those
> that want to be listed. New domains in the internet must have name servers.
> These MUST appear in HOSTS.TXT. Others do not. Most sites CANNOT have their
> hosts listed in HOSTS.TXT because the NIC is trying to keep the size down.

Sorry, but nameservers have no need to be listed in HOSTS.TXT.  The
root nameservers will spit out information records with the nameserver
addresses when responding to an NS query.  A nameserver-based system
can get by without ever looking at HOSTS.TXT.

Essentially, HOSTS.TXT contains hosts that are there by inertia and
hosts that people on (mostly) MILNET sites with old software would
raise a fuss about if they could no longer reach....  [1/2 :-)]
-- 
John Owens		john@jetson.UPMA.MD.US		uunet!jetson!john
+1 301 249 6000		john%jetson.uucp@uunet.uu.net