Problem with NSLOOKUP

[Michael Milligan]

>> Doh!  Don't tell this to the uninitiated!  Let 'em learn how to do it the
>> right way first!  :-)
>
>The 'nslookup' program does some hand-holding for you.  What's wrong
>with that?

Didn't you read the message that started this thread?  That's what's wrong
with hand-holding.

>The 'dig' program requires that you first have a good
>feeling for DNS.  How do you get that in the first place?

Read a manual (BIND operators guide), read a book, take a class.  Anyone who
gets into DNS far enough to be using nslookup (a troubleshooting tool)
should understand the basics of how the system works.  I liken DNS to wading
out into the ocean...  not very far out you take a step off the continental
shelf into really deep water -- and drown if you don't back up and
understand what you're doing first (get scuba gear and learn how to operate
it, or just don't take that last step!).

>
>Asking specifically for a PTR record seems relatively sophisticated to
>me.

Yes, I suppose.

>Most people that I know think that the DNS machine is some kind of
>central network server that performs magic network juju.

Thus, my conjecture that you should not be driving heavy equipment
(nslookup, dig) if you do not understand how it operates.  And the quirks of
nslookup continue to confuse even experts.  I don't recall ever seeing
posted, or being asked, a question about some bit of confusing output from
dig.

Regards,
Mike

--
Michael Milligan - Acme Byte & Wire LLC - milli at acmebw.com