On Feb 9, 2008 1:51 AM, David L. Gehrt <dlg@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Has anybody on this list heard what is wrong with the INTERNET tonight? > > dlg > > -- > fedora-list mailing list > fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list > Putting the fun at your expense aside, we can only assume that you are unfamiliar with how the Internet works. There are many things that can go wrong to negatively impact one's Internet experience (or that of a particular segment). However because of how the Internet works, it would take something at the root of it (i.e. attacking root DNS servers - 13 of them right? or has that changed), and even then of a sufficient magnitude to impact all its users. So a more appropriate query would be: "I live in the city of ABC and have my Internet service with company XYZ. I've been experiencing the following problem(s) using the Internet this evening: {list problem(s)}. I don't know if the problem is local to me, or further upstream. Is anyone else experiencing similar problems?". I'm not suggesting that is the only way you could word such a question. But something along those lines would solicit a more appropriate response. You see the problem could be specific to you, it could be just a segment of your ISP's network, your entire ISP network, the problem could be from your ISP's upstream provider which again could be regional or across the board for them, and so on. For it to impact everybody all across the Internet, it would require something very substantial. Even with the worm that took out I believe 5 of the 13 root DNS servers (don't quote me on that as I didn't Google it for the exact facts - just remember hearing about it) in the past few years that still only caused some people to notice a slight slow down in the Internet. The beauty of the Internet is its resiliency. It's predecessor, ARPANET, was created with that being one of its qualities so that even in time of war if one segment was taken out, communication would continue because traffic would automatically re-route via another part of the web. I also heard (not sure how accurate this one is) that during the Gulf war I believe that the US tried to take out the enemy's communication but thanks to the resiliency of the Internet the enemy was still able to communicate via the Internet. All this may be nothing new to you or of no interest. Just got the impression that you are a bit in the dark as to how the Internet works hence your initial question that provided some of us with an opportunity to lighten things up at your expense (all in good fun). Jacques B.
