[Goat] wiana

[William Waites]

(splitting this into several threads, wiana folks added
to the CC for this one)

On Sun, Apr 25, 2004 at 02:59:06PM -0400, Benoit Grégoire wrote:
> 
> On Saturday 24 April 2004 08:42 pm, ww at parc.styx.org wrote:
> >
> >    b. using an unallocated block (or defunct
> >       allocation) is better, but these addresses
> >       may be used in the future. 
> 
> There have been unsuccessfull attempts in the past by wireless umbrella 
> organisations to get a block of adresses allocated officially for wireless 
> networks.  This has resulted in the creation of WIANA 
> http://www.wiana.org/faq.php [...]

interesting. 1.0.0.0/8 (and 2.0.0.0/8 for that matter) is
reserve by IANA, so collisions are unlikely in the near
term...

the wiana faq is problematic though.

	Q: Isn't this going to cause problems with the "Internet" ? 
	A: No, this is the Wireless Internet, a different physical
	   medium to the Wired Internet.

physical medium has nothing to do with it... ip is ip. it lives
in the network layer. it talks to the mac layer and doesn't care
about the physical stuff below. it is very important to always keep
this separation in mind (cf. osi layers) both for conceptual and
practical purposes.

	Q: Why not use the existing registries? 
	A: Applications for wireless address space were refused
	   and the structure of these registries does not facilitate
	   addresses for end users. Even with IPv6, allocations are
	   described as "limited".

in terms of ipv6, this only partially true. 6bone allocations are
readily available (in 3ffe::/16) though they have a limited lifetime
by design (though in practice it may turn into a permanent allocation).
6to4 addresses (2002::/16) are readily available and permanently
allocated, and publicly routeable, and require no interaction with
the registrar, etc. etc. i think this is enough. why do we need a
direct allocation?

	Q: Wont you run out of space as quickly? 
	A: No, Wiana address space is allocated on an individual
	   address basis. No subnets exist on the wireless internet.
	   Routing is entirely peer to peer.

having an address allocation authority enforce routing policy is
very problematic. even ARIN only requires that you show that you're
using the addresses and says nothing about how the routing layer
works. (note: even for asns they only talk about adjacent autonomous
systems, and say nothing about the protocol used.)

and subnet size (be it /32 or otherwise) is orthogonal to whether
routing is peer-to-peer or not.
 
it gets worse:

	Q: How does per address authentication work? 
	A: All nodes utilising the Wiana cryptographic protocols
	   exchange signed keys with neighbour nodes. Nodes will
	   only route signed traffic.
 
	Q: Do I need to register for address space? 
	A: If you are running a wireless node utilising Wiana
	   approved protocols, you will want to apply for an
	   address to avoid using the default public address
	   ranges and to secure your node.

and elsewhere (http://www.wiana.org/about2.php) 

	Equipment must ... run only approved protocols

yet i can't find a list of these "approved protocols". there is
some (again linux only) software, but no list, no specs. and 
what happens if one wants to experiment with new protocols?

unfortunately though i am a fan of the idea of alternative 
registries (i fondly remember alternic) the wiana policies 
look to me to be far too restrictive.

cheers,
-w
-- 
It has been said that man is a rational animal.  All my life I have
been searching for evidence which could support this.
		-- Bertrand Russell

_______________________________________________
Goat mailing list
Goat at isf.waglo.com
http://isf.waglo.com/mailman/listinfo/goat_isf.waglo.com