> ifconfig 192.168.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 dev eth0 up
>
> what route i want?
Writing this you have already answered this rethoric question 8)
> maybe i want to add a policy route, and i don't want the
> "implicit" route to be up for even a millisecond. maybe i want a
> different window size, maybe i want to do a whole load of strange
> things, maybe i don't even want to have a route... who's to say
> what i want?
If you are aware of these tricks and are about to use them
you never will execute command above.
The only sense of netmask on interface is that BSD API complying
applications may read it and guess that destinations in this range
are DIRECTLY reachable. If we do not provide this
(even for several milliseconds), we have bug. If you do some smart
overrides, simultaneously cheating applications about netmask,
your configuration is wrong.
BTW if you wanted to get rid of millisecond gaps,
it would not use ifconfig for address configuration at all,
it is racy by design. ip addr add 192.168.0.1 dev eth0
Gentelmen, let's stop on this point, this thread became a bit longish.
If someone really cannot sleep quietly without this feature, he is free
to submit (only correct!) patch and the "survival of the fittest"
will make its job as usually 8)
Alexey Kuznetsov
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