named.conf file in xml

[Merton Campbell Crockett]

On 16 Mar 2006, at 09:36 , Tom Jones wrote:

> Look, I'm no fan of Microsoft, and I understand the "easy human"
> readable config files. My point about MS is that they are embracing
> standards like XML to make it easier to write tools and GUI's for
> their applications. This is seen as great asset, so no matter what or
> how , all you have to do is generate the xml file based on the schema.


It's been several years since I looked at the XML Specification but  
it appeared at the time to be nothing more than a mechanism that  
allowed someone to claim that their software conformed to an "open  
standard".  It was simply a way to develop and deliver proprietary  
extensions.  There was no need to publish the DTD or anything else  
that would allow someone to make use of the proprietary extension.

BIND is already "open source".  It's configuration and zone files are  
well defined.  There are a number of vendors that provide "value- 
added" solutions with GUI interfaces that will automatically generate  
configuration and zone files.

I guess one could change { and } to < and />, respectively, and call  
it XML.

Merton Campbell Crockett
m.c.crockett at adelphia.net