[governance] IPv4 - IPv6 incompatiblity (was Re: Towards Singapore)

[Carlos A. Afonso]

I on the other hand trust we *will* get rid of internal combustion 
engines, x generations from now. :)

--c.a.

On 06/18/2011 07:13 AM, Paul Wilson wrote:
>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> and don't mix, and who ask if IPv6 users need to buy different services,
>>> different cables, different equipment, different email address, etc etc
>>> to stay online. It takes quite some explaining to undo that bundle of
>>
>> [Milton L Mueller] well, not all of these are complete misconceptions.
>> Some new equipment does have to be purchased, esp by network operators.
>> No, the physical layer doesn't change. Some services may not work.
>> Equipment that runs dual stack won't have to be replaced.
>
> New equipment yes, but what I said was: not different equipment for the
> 2 different protocols.
>
> And whether services work or not is not a significant function of this
> supposed "compatibility" issue, there are plenty of other more important
> factors at play there. What I am trying to do Milton, is to get over one
> particular and specific point of irrelevance and confusion in this
> debate, not to address every other problem under this particular sun.
>
>
>>> I've promoted an analogy between the v4-v6 transition and the transition
>>> from oil to electricity in our transport system. And it works for this
>>> discussion as well: you don't try to plug your volkswagon beetle into
>>> the mains - because oil and electrons certainly don't mix - but that old
>>> car is still perfectly "compatible" with the latest electric one: it
>>> drives on the same roads, uses the same rules and the same controls; and
>>> carries the same passengers in the same way.
>>
>> [Milton L Mueller] This analogy misses something important: the network
>> externality, or what some call network effects. An electric car gets me
>> from point A to point B regardless of how many others are driving
>> electric cars. My ability to use ipv6 to full effect and reap full
>> benefits, however, depends very much on how many other people are also
>> using ipv6. (there are some network effects in the fueling infrastructure
>> in the migration, but they are weaker and secondary compared to the v4-v6
>> migration.)
>
> Indeed it is an analogy, and therefore imperfect.
>
>
>> On the other hand the electric-gasoline analogy is a good one in that it
>> should be evident to everyone that we will _never_ completely get rid of
>> internal combustion vehicles.
>
> I have said myself that IPv4 addresses will be around for a long time,
> but "never" is much longer than any forecast that I've personally ever
> made. Eventually IPv4 will be irrelevant enough that it will be dropped
> from services with few people noticing. There will be a cost in
> maintaining IPv4 support on commercial services, so it actually will be
> withdrawn from entire networks, at a time when that decision makes
> commercial sense. And this will happen quickly, once a tipping point is
> reached (I mean within possibly 5 or 10 years).
>
>
>> [Milton L Mueller]
>> [Milton L Mueller] This is a good point. A clean break will have some
>> benefits - if we succeed in making it.
>
> Not just "some" benefits, but inestimable benefits, when you really
> consider the reality of ongoing exponential growth of the Internet, over
> decades to come.
>
> Paul.
>
>
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