A perhaps radical suggestion:
Make the server name field fixed length e.g. 256 bytes. Longer
server names are not supported and clients MUST NOT send them.
(Both client and server can't use them because they won't fit in
the fixed length field.)
Putting a limitation like this one into a protocol certainly can
create problems, but we can look to the file system name
situation for some insight. In the dark ages, file names were
limited to a small number of characters -- 4, 5, or 6. I
remember when the file system I used increased the limit to 8
characters, seeming like infinity for a few days. Finally some
file systems raised the limit to 256 characters and I stopped
hearing complaints that the length limit was a problem.
With the suggestion, DNS lookups are padded to allow all 255
byte names to be represented in what is, in effect, a fixed
length lookup string.
Now people with more information about the problem can describe
the problems this suggestion would cause.
Cheers - Bill
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Bill Frantz | gets() remains as a monument | Periwinkle
(408)356-8506 | to C's continuing support of | 16345
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www.pwpconsult.com | buffer overruns. | Los Gatos,
CA 95032
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