RE: I-D ACTION:draft-mmeredit-rootdse-vendor-info-00.txt

[Peter Strong <pestrong@nortelnetworks.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paul Leach (Exchange) [mailto:paulle@Exchange.Microsoft.com]
> Sent: Thursday, November 18, 1999 7:04 PM
> To: 'Kurt D. Zeilenga'; Mark Meredith
> Cc: ietf-ldapext@netscape.com
> Subject: RE: I-D ACTION:draft-mmeredit-rootdse-vendor-info-00.txt
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Kurt D. Zeilenga [mailto:kurt@boolean.net]
> > Sent: Thursday, November 18, 1999 3:29 PM
> > To: Mark Meredith
> > Cc: ietf-ldapext@netscape.com
> > Subject: Re: I-D ACTION:draft-mmeredit-rootdse-vendor-info-00.txt
> >
> >
> > If published at all, I would suggest it be published as
> > informational.
> >
> > I would rather see us define attribute types to document
> > existence on specific features instead of relying on vendor
> > naming/version information.  Otherwise, as vendors start implementing
> > each others features, we'll end up with same ( xxx compatible )
> > crap that has plagued HTTP services.
> I agree. If it is to be used to determine if certain features are
supported, > that would be bad.
> As a result, I'd rather not see it published as informational, either.
> Paul

As a user of multiple directory products, I think that some manner of
determining the type of directory I'm connected to is crucial! We currently
support Netscape, Novell and (soon) Active Directory as the storage
repository for our product. We need to know which directory we're talking to
because
of the differences that exist in such things as schema update mechanisms and
change notification strategys.

Our architectural approach hides differences in repository implementations
by providing an abstraction of the repository being used and we often have
to connect to multiple data repositories simultaneously. Having a standard
way of determining the vendor of the directory we're talking to would make
it much easier for us to instantiate the correct "flavour" of LDAP
interface.

In an ideal world, all directories would align to standards and client
software wouldn't have to worry about which one they were accessing.

However, this isn't an ideal world, it's the real world.

There will ALWAYS be differences in the way vendors build their products. In
fact, that's usually how new standards come into existence.

We're not looking for an exhaustive indication of the features supported by
the directory, but we could definitely use a basic hint about whose
directory we're talking to!

This is a very simple, very useful proposal that doesn't require a huge
development effort and I support it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Strong
Software Architect
Nortel Networks - Optivity Policy Services (OPS) and NetID
pestrong@nortelnetworks.com
(613) 831-6615