7 Nov
2018
7 Nov
'18
10:05 a.m.
Dan Cross <crossd(a)gmail.com> wrote:
What was the introduction of DNS into the mix like? I
can imagine that that
changed all sorts of assumptions about failure modes and the like.
I'm not sure what you're asking. When DNS came along, it became
a matter of editing /etc/nsswitch.conf to include dns as one of the
options along with files and yp/nis. I think the average user didn't
see any big difference since all the apps (ftp, telnet) just went
through gethostbyname().
DNS configuration files were a trip, especially for someone used to the
very simple Unix configuration files like /etc/passwd and /etc/hosts.
Circa 1985/1986 I was responsible for bringing up DNS at the Emory U
campus. Once in place, things pretty much just worked. Or at least,
from this distant vantage point, that's what I seem to remember.
Arnold