Subject: [babel] Info Model: babel-implementation-version

From: "STARK, BARBARA H" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2018 23:49:58 +0000

The current version of the Info Model has a babel-implementation-version parameter. I believe this is intended to be the version of the software implementation (which may be rev'ed to fix bugs or add new functionality like a security mechanism). Is that correct? Would it make sense to also have a parameter for the name of the software implementation?

The Babel spec (rfc6126bis) does also have a Version in the header. This isn't reflected in the Info Model. Should it be? I think I vaguely recall discussions with Juliusz where he thought it wasn't (currently) necessary. But I'd like to get others' thoughts.
Barbara

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From: Toke Høiland-Jørgensen <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2018 11:55:18 +0200

"STARK, BARBARA H" <[email-masked]> writes:

> The current version of the Info Model has a
> babel-implementation-version parameter. I believe this is intended to
> be the version of the software implementation (which may be rev'ed to
> fix bugs or add new functionality like a security mechanism). Is that
> correct? Would it make sense to also have a parameter for the name of
> the software implementation?

Couldn't this just be a version string that includes both? I.e., the
'version' would be 'babeld 1.8.3', or 'bird 2.0' - I think that is what
e.g. DNS servers do?

> The Babel spec (rfc6126bis) does also have a Version in the header.
> This isn't reflected in the Info Model. Should it be? I think I
> vaguely recall discussions with Juliusz where he thought it wasn't
> (currently) necessary. But I'd like to get others' thoughts.

Exposing the protocol version would only make sense if we suspect that
there will at some point be a new protocol version that shares enough
with the current one that it would be compatible at the information
model level. Currently, if the protocol version is different, it is (by
definition) not the same protocol...

-Toke

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From: Juliusz Chroboczek <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2018 13:49:02 +0200

>> The current version of the Info Model has
>> a babel-implementation-version parameter. I believe this is intended to

> 'version' would be 'babeld 1.8.3', or 'bird 2.0' - I think that is what

I agree, this information is useful.  Babeld currently exports just this
kind of information over its management interface, and we've found it's an
essential feature in order to get useful bug reports.

    BABEL 1.0
    version babeld-1.8.3-1-gb98fb20
    host trurl
    my-id 86:8f:69:ff:fe:f0:33:8e
    ok

The version string appears as the second line above, and it's
a human-readable string.

> definition) not the same protocol...

If we ever define Babel protocol version 3, then we can update the
information model with an optional protocol-version field, and say that
the value "2" is implied if the field is absent.

-- Juliusz