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Re: [Openvpn-users] resolv-retry for unlimited time?


  • Subject: Re: [Openvpn-users] resolv-retry for unlimited time?
  • From: "James Yonan" <jim@xxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 18:57:55 -0000

Claas Hilbrecht <claas+maillinglists.openvpn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> said:

> >> > I wonder how can I use resolv-retry with an unlimited number of
> >> > retries? Is this possible at all?
> >>
> >> The following two patches allow resolv-retry to work forever if you call
> >> openvpn with "resolv-retry=-1". Maybe the patch could be added to the
> >> next  openvpn release?
> >
> > Why not just use a big number for the resolv-retry parameter, like a
> > month or a year?
> 
> I think that "missusing" a parameter to achieve a desired behaviour is 
> common with software that is closed source. But with open source software I 
> think it's better to create a patch. Using the documented -1 value with 
> resolv-retry every one knows "ok, this should try as long as hell freezes" 
> but using a large resolv-retry number this could mean something else, e.g. 
> "Maybe I need to work around another piece of broken software?".

I hear where you're coming from, but I beg to disagree.  I think that when you
have a positive integer parameter that refers to some kind of real-world
measurement (such as a number of seconds in a time interval), that it confuses
the matter by making special case values (such as -1, -2, etc.) that change
the way the parameter is interpreted from a time interval to a binary flag.  I
know this is done in C programming all the time, in terms of the way that
programs operate internally, but I'm a bit reluctant to export this to the
user interface because then it needs to be documented that 4 means 4 seconds
and 100 means 100 seconds but -1 means infinity seconds.

My preferred solution would be something like "--resolv-retry infinite" (since
there is no infinity character in ASCII), and have the options parser
internally substitute a very large number when "infinite" is used.  Then if
someone looks at a config file, they see "infinite" and it's obvious what it
means.  On the other hand if you see "--resolv-retry -1", then you have to
remember that -1 is really a special-case flag and then you need to check the
manual to remember whether -1 is infinite and 0 disables or whether 0 is
infinite and -1 disables, etc.

James


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