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0 pointsjoveian10y ago0 comments

https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1924.txt

(base 85 representation of IPv6 addresses)

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4 comments · 2 top-level

Dylan1680710y ago· 2 in thread

Base85 naturally encodes 32 bits at a time into 5 characters, why is this using 128 bit math? I can't tell if it's a joke, with that date.

Edit: The commentary at the end suggests more of a joke, even though "It may be expected that future processors will address this defect, quite possibly before any significant IPv6 deployment has been accomplished." wasn't exactly false. I'm not sure why you linked an intentionally-bad RFC for a reasonable concept?

greggyb10y ago

April Fool's RFCs are a bit of a tradition[0]. I'm a fan of the proposal for IPoAC[1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools'_Day_Request_for_C...

[1] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1149

Dylan1680710y ago

Oh I understand why the RFC exists. But they should have put a bit more effort into it, and joveian should have made clear that it was a low-effort RFC, joke or not.

I'll be more clear about my earlier post. I realized the RFC itself was put out as a joke, but I couldn't really tell if the 128 bit math was bad on purpose or out of laziness. Or what the RFC author actually thought about using such a compact representation.

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Gibbon110y ago

My Dad told me once, every good idea has already been thought of by someone else.

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