[Python-Dev] Issues with Py3.1's new ipaddr

[Clay McClure]

On Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 11:16 AM, R. David Murray <rdmurray at bitdance.com> wrote:

> I think this hits the nail on the head.  Rather than network engineers
> having a less precise understanding of IP, what we have is two different
> sets of domain requirements.  Network engineers deal with networks, with
> IPs being a necessary special case.  Others deal with host addresses,
> with networks as an additional data type.

It has been brought to my attention that my use of the word
"imprecise" may have been construed as an insult. For that I
apologize. That was not my intent. I am sure that your understanding
of IP in your domain (network engineering) is as good or better than
mine in my domain (UNIX administration). That is not the point I was
arguing.

Had you said that thinking of addresses as having netmasks is a useful
mental model, I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly. To me, this
is similar to thinking of voltage as pressure. Instead, you said (or
at least implied) that addresses in fact do have netmasks, which I
think is technically an imprecise way of describing how the technology
works. To me, that would be like building a voltmeter calibrated in
pascals.

As another poster has commented, I think the name of the module is the
source of some confusion. While I see the validity of your use case,
that is not the use case I had in mind for a module named "ipaddr". In
any case, I think with some enhanced documentation and maybe some
class name changes, we can clarify ipaddr's API and strive to make it
support both use cases. Your continued input will be invaluable as we
move forward with the PEP.

Clay