[afnog] IPv6 Progress

[Geert Jan de Groot]

On Wed, 31 Jul 2013 06:54:49 +0200 Mark Tinka wrote:
> I think user growth will help shift traffic to IPv6, because
> at some point, NAT44 and friends will simply be too
> cumbersome to scale.

These days, it is a business risk, no more and no less.

Could a few years the case be made that creating awareness is neccessary,
I believe that anyone who knows what a packet is, also knows what
IPv6 is. The time for reachout is done.

Running IPv4/NAT has costs, short-term and long-term,
complexity, shortage, etc

Running IPv6 has costs, short-term and long-term,
implementation challenges, maturity, etc

Everyone who runs a network, makes decisions on how to run it
and incurs the costs and profits of his (or her) decisions.
I have no pity at all with anyone who finds that his business
suddenly drops because he procastinated implementing IPv6 - 
the message has been out, for many, many years, and through several
generations of popular applications, some of which are now in disuse.
Nobody can blame not having been told and get away with it.

At the same time, we should not tell how others run their networks.
That's their decision, their consequences.

For now, unfortunately postponing IPv6 doesn't seem to have too
many consequences. When (if?) that changes, then the consequences
are theirs, not mine. I don't pity the ones left behind then.

The recent AfNOG/AfriNIC meeting was held in a country where the
main website of one of the mobile operators (three-lettered, yellow)
has been down for at least six months, even confirmed by their
helpdesk staff. Apperently, they got away with it, and business
certainly didn't seem to be dropping for them because of this. 
If something as trivial as this, that can be fixed by any 15-year old, 
doesn't get addressed, how much chance does one stand asking them 
to make major changes to their network, and for what business reason?

I'd like then to run IPv6.
I'd like them to loose business for not running IPv6, yes. 
At the same time, I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.

It is just a business risk. That's all.

Geert Jan