Re: [idn] host name vs. domain name

[John C Klensin <klensin@jck.com>]

--On Saturday, 18 March, 2000 15:44 -0500 "J. William Semich" <bill@mail.nic.nu> wrote:

> Maybe it would help to create a list of those applications or protocols
> etc. that use the DNS, and prioritize that list by the ease with which each
> can be made to work with idn.
> 
> For example:
> 
> 1. Web addresses - simple
> 2. Email - moderately difficult
> 3. Reverse look ups - very difficult
> 
> It may turn out that 1. and 2. above meet the primary needs of most for idn
> on the Internet and we should work on requirements that facilitate idn in
> Web addresses and Email only...

Unfortunately, due partially to pressure from spammers, a significant fraction of the email on the internet passes through systems that do reverse lookups as a sanity check.

And, especially in IPv6 environments with its huge and hard-to-write addresses and "frequent renumbering" assumptions, the number of internet applications that uses the DNS should be equal to the
number of Internet applications.

   john