Fwd: [GLLUG] IPV6

[Adam McDougall]

I have two main reasons, One is that it is one extra (usually
unfirewalled) way for someone to get into your computer, and Two is I tend
to be minimalist.  Lesser reasons include having less useless information
on my display from things like ifconfig -a, netstat; less code = less
potential for bugs, vulnerabilities, panics, less time spent compiling,
etc.  Reducing compile time was of course of more benefit 9 years ago, but
I have things I can do with the few extra minutes in my life each time I
compile a kernel+modules even with modern cpus.  Also, I remove drivers
from my kernel that I have no intention of using, because especially isa
network card drivers can slow down the kernel booting when probing for
hardware I don't have.  Sometimes I remove drivers from my kernel that I
would prefer to load (or reload) later, such as my wireless card so I can
choose when I want to start consuming more power on my laptop.  I've had a
prism wireless card freeze up from some sort of attack at Defcon before,
and reloading the kernel module was enough to kick it back into shape.  I
like that ability on laptops.  On servers though, I tend to leave critical
hardware in the kernel proper. 

I realize more apps are gaining IPv6 support, but if I don't have an IPv6
speaking server to talk to, or IPv6 clients to talk to me, theres no
benefit for me.  IPv6 won't magically start working out of the box until
most ISPs support it to the client (I know you can tunnel, but unlike
Windows, I don't think any unix distributions take it upon themselves to
open you up to the greater IPv6 with a gratuitious tunnel).  I don't want
my computer exposed to IPv6 or consuming resources for it until I am 
fully ready to make use of it.  



On Thu, Aug 31, 2006 at 10:11:30AM -0400, Asenchi wrote:

  Sorry I accidentially posted off list, but I found this in the
  ifconfig man page.  I would suggest not disabling IPv6 as more and
  more programs are building support for it.
  
  I am curious, why do people want to disable it?
  
  ---------- Forwarded message ----------
  From: Asenchi <asenchi at gmail.com>
  Date: Aug 29, 2006 10:31 PM
  Subject: Re: [GLLUG] IPV6
  To: Jim Fick <jfick at mphi.org>
  
  Oh by the way, found this in ifconfig also:
  
  BUGS
      Basic IPv6 node operation requires a link-local address on each 
      interface
      configured for IPv6.  Normally, such an address is automatically config-
      ured by the kernel on each interface added to the system; this behaviour
      may be disabled by setting the sysctl MIB variable
      net.inet6.ip6.auto_linklocal to 0.
  
      If you delete such an address using ifconfig, the kernel may act very
      oddly.  Do this at your own risk.
  
  -- 
  The risk of insult is the price of clarity.
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