Organization: Arnold Consulting
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Date:         Thu, 31 Dec 1992 08:52:43 MET
From:         "Stephen L. Arnold" <ARNOLD@ARNOLD.COM>
Subject:      Domain names for BITNET nodes (was RE: INTERBITs and NETDATA)
Comments: To: DOMAIN-L@vm.gmd.de

Paul Robinson, 0005066432@MCIMAIL.COM, said:
> Just one small question:  Is there plans to register the domain
> "BITNET" or some derivitive that the Internet Assigned Number Agency
> might approve of, i.e. like "BIT.NET" so that these addresses will
> have {real} bitnet addresses?
> ...
> I for one would like to know as I think it is a major thorn in
> the side of Bitnet.  Hosts on BITNET that do not have direct
> internet access could simply do what is being done now: go through
> CUNY or Princeton or any of the other gateways, but it would fix
> one major problem about being reachable from the outside world.

To be clear here, we are discussing the mail application, which is the
one and only application BITNET and the Internet have in common!
Internet-only users can't send or receive NJE nodal message records or
files, and BITNET-only users can't FTP or TELNET.

You are asking, "Why don't BITNET nodes have domain-style addresses so I
can address mail to them easily from my Internet-savvy mailer?"

The answer is *not* to register something ending in .BITNET or .BIT.NET.
These kinds of names emphasize the transport technology, which should be
transparent to users, and would force a centralized name registry to
handle all the interconnected NJE nodes we loosely call "BITNET".
(BITNET is really only a portion of the global NJE network, which has no
name.)  Also, the IETF and DDN NIC have repeatedly rejected such a
practice.

The strategy recommended by everyone who has studied this issue in depth
is for each organization to register a domain for itself and assign each
host that will receive mail (whether by SMTP/TCP/IP, UUCP, or BSMTP/NJE)
a domain-style name in their own domain.  For example, the hypothetical
"Bay College", used in some examples in CREN's "BITNET Postmaster's
Guide", registers the domain Bay.Edu with the DDN NIC, then assigns
every host that will exchange mail a name in that domain.  The VM system
BAYVM, which is only on BITNET, can have the domain name BAYVM.Bay.Edu.
Internet users should simply address such nodes by their domain-style
names.  Mail exchanger (MX) records in the domain name system point the
mail for BITNET nodes to an Internet-connected host that can handle mail
for them, usually by gatewaying the mail onto BITNET.

It can be protested that "My BITNET node's software doesn't support
domain names!"  This excuse has held BITNET back too long.  Since 1
January 1992, all NJE nodes served by CREN that use the INTERBIT
gateways have been required to run "mailer software".  All the mailer
software that conforms to the CREN requirement (such as the VM Mailer,
UREP's mailer component, PMDF, and MX) supports domain names.  The
remaining BITNET nodes are either (1) on the Internet or (2) don't want
to exchange mail with Internet users.  So this excuse is bogus.
Managers that want to server their users must get mailer software.

Hassle your correspondents to have their system management install
mailer software, register a domain, and use domain names in their own
domain for correspondence with Internet users.

Regards,
Steve, mailer fanatic and author of CREN's "BITNET Postmaster's Guide
for VAX Systems"

Stephen L. Arnold, Ph.D., Principal, Arnold Consulting
Address   4138 Iroquois Drive, Madison, Wisconsin  53711-3701  U.S.A.
Telephone +1 (608) 238-7835             Pager     +1 (608) 277-4053
Internet   Arnold@Arnold.Com            BITNET     ARNOLD@WISCPSL
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU