RFC 881 (rfc881) - Page 2 of 10

Domain names plan and schedule

RFC 881                                                    November 1983
The Domain Names Plan and Schedule                                      


   A Catch 22

      There is a problem in introducing domain style names: a great deal
      of software has to be changed.  Some groups would like to start
      using domain style names right away, and other groups don't want
      to see them or use them for a very long time.  Communication
      patterns are very complex and as soon as domain style names are
      allowed and used by a few groups they will start showing up almost
      everywhere.  This argues that everyone should be prepared for them
      before they are used at all.  However, we know that with people
      being people and with so many of people involved, the probability
      of everyone being ready in any reasonable time period is nearly
      zero.  The way out of this situation is to set up a reasonable
      schedule for experimenting with domain style names and authorizing
      their use.  People that get ready on schedule should have no
      problems with these names.

   Evolution of the Table

      Nearly all the hosts in the Internet now use some form of host
      table based on the master file "HOSTS.TXT" maintained by the
      Network Information Center (NIC).

      One way to introduce domain style names is to add to the entries
      in this table names in the domain style.  In particular, make the
      first name in each entry the official host name in the ARPA
      domain.

         For example, the current entry for USC-ISIF is:

            HOST : 10.2.0.52 : USC-ISIF,ISIF : DEC-1090T : TOPS20 :
            TCP/TELNET,TCP/SMTP,TCP/FTP,TCP/FINGER,UDP/TFTP :

         This could become:

            HOST : 10.2.0.52 : USC-ISIF.ARPA,USC-ISIF,ISIF : DEC-1090T :
            TOPS20 : TCP/TELNET,TCP/SMTP,TCP/FTP,TCP/FINGER,UDP/TFTP :

      For some hosts and programs this could be done today with no
      disruptions, but for others substantial problems could occur.  For
      example, with over five hundred entries in the table the addition
      of 500 names could exceed the space allocated to store the table
      in some programs.  (One could argue that these programs are going
      to blow up soon anyway as new host entries are added to the
      table.)  Another problem is that period (or dot, ".") is not now a
      legal character in host names and some programs may not be able to
      parse these new names.



Postel