Sorry for cross posting, but this mail is an answer to something in the general thread, but with an idea that I think belongs to the "new generation network" list. I will not cross post in the future (without good reason) Here the good reason is to give motivation to continue on the new list.
On 30.12.20 at 00:15 wrote Marius Petrescu via 44Net:
There where such proposals back in the 90's, with fantastic nonexisting results.
This was a very different situation than today. Internet was in it's infancy. I rember having used ISDN modems at that times.
First, assigning IPs without establishing a network topology first is futile. You need to be able to create subnets and group users together by topology criteria to ensure routing, not by some arbitrary callsign rule. It would be mononeuronal to maintain hundreds of /32 addresses instead of handling a few /24 subnets and delegating the management to the subnet admins.
This is technically correct, but possibly is not the best use of 44 address space in a connected world as we have today.
...
Second, these allocations should be done on a need to do basis, with a user getting an IP for his use depending on where/how he plans to log in/connect.
I do not agree. If I read the FAQ it says that we still have over 6 million 44 addresses unassigned, and we most likely will be unable to assign them due to the lack of request by hams.
So, since I am rather new in the 44 world, let me talk about what I expected from the net before I (partly) found out what it seems to be, followed by a proposal what I think could be a "new generation network":
My a priory expectations: ------------------------- 1) 44net is a net made by HAMs for Hams. 2) If I connect to a 44 address it will be HAM content that I access, i.e. according to similar rules as for radio. 3) There is some general mechanism by which I can discover activities of other HAMs. (the equivalent of a CQ call)
Oddly only 1) seems to be true.
My observations: ---------------- Most of the questions seem to be dealt with from a network operators perspective. I still have a hard time to find basic user information:
Open questions: --------------- 1) Is there a document of polite behaviour on 44 (a 44tiquette)? E.g. is it ok to port-scan address ranges for services, machines-online, crawl the ports 80 of the 44 net?
2) Is there a policy what it means to hold a 44 address? E.g. could a service like echolink rely on the fact that it is a HAM user when 44 is inbound and avoid the need for a password to discriminate HAMs?
3) Is there a directory where I can register my interest for communication during my station is online (not all HAMs may run their radio 24/7)
4) How can I find out if a host is addressable from the internet and from within 44? ok this one I discovered myself: dig -x 44.x.x.x and when it is in the portal it is, but again I have to guess the exact details, because there seems to be a country in between the portal part and ampr.org. Why is this interesting? It would be helpful for an end user, because I guess this could be used for a firewall rule that would not allow such addresses to go on radio.
My ideas for evolution: ----------------------- I think understanding 44 net as an overlay network would be way more useful to HAMs than it is today. Sure overlay networks can be built by other means as well. Converting 44net however, gives unique possibilities since it will not loose it's rooting abilities within the outer net. Also there already is a big community around this net and converting to an overlay net could go gradually. Also I believe there will be quite some technical challenges to master. This could be an interesting matter for experienced people like you.
What would it need:
A) A clear and easy to understand policy.
B) A technical implementation.
About B) first: (I am a technician ;-) Marius you said it would be detrimental to have millions of /32 hosts. Sure, if every router needs to whole table yes. But what if we had a service that could learn routes on demand? Similar than what a DNS lookup does? We possibly could repurpose DNS entries for this. I.e. lookup tunnel endpoint IP by 44net IP. This is just one idea, I am sure you have a better one!
About A) A clear policy of the dos and donts. We also should help those that spent many hours climbing up towers mounting radio equipment useable by other HAMs i.e. 44ers. Such a policy therefore should express a clear preference for stations accessing 44 by radio. (This is just my opinion, this should and must be discussed in deep of course.)
I am in hope that some of these ideas sound interesting to the 44net community. I am very curious about the pros and cons of my proposal. (Please don't beat at me if this already has been discussed somewhere in length, and has been discarded for some good reason. In this case pls just point me to the correct place in the archives.)
vy 73 de roland, oe1rsa