Until a decision is made about what to do long term
here, maybe the AMPR
Portal web interface can change this name from "gateway" to "public
Internet IP (gateway)". I think that would help some people avoid this
issue.
Either that, and/or a descriptive text above the form that explains what a gateway
is, why you want to have it (and why not), and where to read more about it.
There are those "hover" type help texts but I am afraid it is not enough.
I think several "gateways" now listed (with no subnets) are the result of
people
wanting to register/publish their system information in a way that is more like
what HamnetDB does.
It should be clearer that creating a gateway here actually sets up routes and
when done incorrectly can mess things up pretty badly.
The announced subnets list has similar risks. For a while it was limited to
subnets registered by the person logged in, there were people wanting to route
subnets for others (probably to forward them internally) and this check was
removed, and now people who do not completely understand what is going on are
randomly announcing other people's subnets without anyone knowing.
Perhaps best would be when all gateway setup had to be validated by someone with
more experience (a coordinator, an old hat in AMPRnet, etc) before it becomes
finalized, similar to the subnet allocation.
Rob