[Cerowrt-devel] dnsmasq/bind usage

[Dave Taht]

> I learned this week that dnsmasq is the default dns/dhcp server in
> android, for tethering, and is also heavily used in libvirt and
> various clustering solutions. That's in addition to near dominance of
> the linux based home router market...
>
> And for all that market penetration, (at least 1/4 of the internet)

This was a bit broad.  Insert "that I care about". That said, it would
be interesting to find out how broad the market penetration really is.
There is an easy way to find out if your local resolver is running
bind or dnsmasq, via a simple command:

dig chaos txt version.bind

(I don't know how unbound or nominum or other dns daemons respond to this. ?)

This will look up the dns server in /etc/resolv.conf and ask for the
version of the dns server. It would be cool to find out what adsl and
cable modems are running what local caching dns server (if any)

For example, ubuntu 12.4 and later uses dnsmasq by default, and that
query returns:


;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 22935
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;version.bind.			CH	TXT

;; ANSWER SECTION:
version.bind.		0	CH	TXT	"dnsmasq-2.59"

;; Query time: 1 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
;; WHEN: Mon Nov 26 14:33:28 2012
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 55

I'm presently in a hotel that blocks port 22, so I can't fiddle with
the other boxes I use....

> simon and his crew have made such solid software, in their spare time,
> as for nobody to know who they are.

If dnsmasq were buggier, more people would get focused on it. Sticky
wheels get greased.

That said, there are so many enhancements to dns needed to bring it
into the ipv6 age, that I wish more folk would be focused on the
importance of naming, in general. It is, after all, possibly one of
the first commandments in the Bible.

"So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and
all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was
found."

(not that I'm particularly religious but this seemed appropo)

While I'm encouraged by the recent formation of the mdnsext working
group in the ietf, they are only addressing the easier part of the
problem.