Biggest mistake for IPv6: It's not backwards compatible, developers admit

[Fred Baker]

On Mar 30, 2009, at 9:27 AM, Joe Abley wrote:

> I think this is an important distinction. Transition implies that  
> people should wait "until IPv6 is ready" before "switching". Those  
> people will be waiting a long time.

Yes.

I was amused not too long ago with a journalist's question. She wanted  
to know why, if IPv6 was ready for deployment, we were working so hard  
on it. I pointed out that in 1983 IPv4 was not only "ready for  
deployment" but "widely deployed" - we turned NCP off (mostly) and  
turned IPv4 on. At that point, the IETF, NANOG, and so on had not yet  
been formed; in a very real sense, the hard work had not even started.  
What have the IETF and the RIR communities been doing since?

Yes, we are working on issues with the ongoing deployment of IPv6, and  
yes, people are turning it on in their existing IPv4 networks. Both of  
those are important at this point.