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Earthlink Offers Alternate DNS Without "Dead DNS"

Posted by kdawson on Mon Sep 18, 2006 11:37 AM
from the just-resolve-my-names dept.
Networking
Joshua Flory writes, "In response to the story about Earthlink and their version of 'Site Finder', I learned today that Earthlink has provided alternate DNS servers that will remain outside of their 'dead DNS' service. However, this is a completely unsupported service, which begs the question, WHY? Everyone can gain access to public DNS servers, or create their own. The point is that people wanted DNS servers supported by EL that do not include this dead DNS service." Sounds like it's time for Earthlink users to check out OpenDNS.com... they make it easy to turn off the bad-URL behavior.

Related Stories

[+] EarthLink Establishes Their Own "Site Finder" 241 comments
Guppy06 writes "Last week, instead of a regular DNS error, EarthLink's DNS servers started to return a redirect to earthlink-help.net, a site that bears a close resemblance to VeriSign's much-maligned Site Finder, to their subscribers. According to their official blog at Earthling, "By presenting users with contextual help based upon the non-existent domain the user entered, we believe we are improving the EarthLink user experience with a system that will not interfere with other network processes." Most of the responses in said blog posting aren't positive."
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  • Islamic Clerics declare Fatwa against BLOCKQUOTE (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 18 2006, @11:39AM (#16131013)
    MUDRAGISTAN (Reuters) - Islamic Clerics announced today that due to the incapacity of the islamic mind to understand the difference between an opinion and a quotation, henceforth all use of the BLOCKQUOTE tag in HTML shall be met with unyielding and divine retribution.

    The BLOCKQUOTE tag, as introduced with the HTML 2.0 specification in 1994, has been used on websites throughout the world to signify that the text contained within is a quotation from an external source. However, due to an inability for islamics to grow the fuck up and understand basic communicative syntax, they now believe it is their holy right to murder anyone they want to just because one person quoted someone else within context.

    This antithesis of freedom is a common theme running throughout all islamic interaction with civilised society. Rampaging islamic mobs worldwide have burned effigies of Dave Raggett, creator of HTML, alongside effigies of President Bush and Pope Benedict XVI. Police measures are now in place to put everyone who ever had a Myspace page or Geocities account into hiding.

    Inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, was unavailable for comment. Which is probably just as well as we don't want to get bombed by the raghead fuckwits just for quoting him.

  • umm (Score:3, Funny)

    by Foo2rama (755806) on Monday September 18 2006, @11:40AM (#16131018)
    (http://themachine.org/ | Last Journal: Sunday July 11 2004, @09:23PM)
    Who uses earthlink anymore anyway...
    • Re:umm by liquidpele (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @11:46AM
    • Re:umm by aliendisaster (Score:3) Monday September 18 2006, @11:53AM
    • Re:umm by dwiget (Score:1) Monday September 18 2006, @11:59AM
    • Re:umm by LunaticTippy (Score:3) Monday September 18 2006, @12:10PM
      • Re:umm by caluml (Score:3) Monday September 18 2006, @12:26PM
        • Re:umm by Puggs (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @12:37PM
        • Re:umm by LunaticTippy (Score:3) Monday September 18 2006, @04:40PM
          • Re:umm by Reziac (Score:2) Tuesday September 19 2006, @02:25AM
      • Re:umm by Guppy06 (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @03:46PM
        • Re:umm by LunaticTippy (Score:1) Monday September 18 2006, @04:44PM
          • Re:umm by rabbit994 (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @06:31PM
          • Re:umm by Guppy06 (Score:2) Tuesday September 19 2006, @03:07AM
            • Re:umm by LunaticTippy (Score:2) Tuesday September 19 2006, @02:03PM
              • Re:umm by nocleverhandle (Score:1) Wednesday September 20 2006, @11:14AM
      • Re:umm by ako (Score:1) Tuesday September 19 2006, @05:10AM
      • Re:umm by stienman (Score:2) Tuesday September 19 2006, @11:38AM
        • Re:umm by LunaticTippy (Score:2) Tuesday September 19 2006, @02:12PM
    • They are my only alternative to Time Warner by EVil Lawyer (Score:1) Monday September 18 2006, @12:24PM

    • Re:umm (Score:5, Informative)

      by theodicey (662941) on Monday September 18 2006, @12:58PM (#16131772)
      I do, as an alternative to supporting AT&T's illegal wiretapping and internet traffic monitoring.

      They cost about $2 more a month for DSL + phone + long distance. The cost difference isn't really their fault, the FCC allowed AT&T and the phone monopolies to charge whatever they wanted for line access. But they make it up in other ways, like with 500 minutes of free long distance

      Also, Earthlink's DSL service (provided by Covad) is faster than AT&T's was.
      [ Parent ]
    • EarthLink over TimeWarner Cable Lines! by TheNinjaroach (Score:1) Monday September 18 2006, @01:35PM
    • Re:umm by 2gravey (Score:1) Monday September 18 2006, @01:40PM
    • I tried to use Earthlink by beaverfever (Score:3) Monday September 18 2006, @02:53PM
    • Re:umm by Intron (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @02:05PM
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.

  • There isn't a sign saying DNS... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Rotund Prickpull (818980) on Monday September 18 2006, @11:41AM (#16131031)
    ... because storing dead niggers ain't my fucking business!
  • I tried going the OpenDNS route. It broke the anti-spam blacklist rules I had in my Postfix config (which of course is entirely DNS-based). Using any other public DNS server it works fine.

  • But wait! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by OverlordQ (264228) on Monday September 18 2006, @11:47AM (#16131091)
    (Last Journal: Thursday February 15 2007, @08:00PM)
    I thought Earthlink Engineers were so amazingly intelligent that they said that their Dead DNS would only affect Web traffic.

    Oh wait, no they're not. They *still* dont get what's wrong with what they're doing.
    • Re:But wait! by C-Shalom (Score:1) Monday September 18 2006, @11:51AM

    • Re:But wait! (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 18 2006, @01:39PM (#16132146)
      Most of the engineers didn't know this was being done until it was far too late, and they aren't happy about it. And even if they had, it's doubtful it would have made a difference to the folks looking to make some money. So as an engineer distressed by this whole idea, you have two choices:

      1. Make a fuss and become a potential target.
      2. Complain amongst friends, and pray for a PR disaster that gets it shut down.

      I think the bulk have opted for door #2.
      [ Parent ]

  • IT DOES NOT BEG THE QUESTION. (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 18 2006, @11:47AM (#16131092)
    It might raise the question, but it certainly does not beg the question. [wikipedia.org]

  • OpenDNS is no better (Score:4, Informative)

    by sidb (530400) on Monday September 18 2006, @12:10PM (#16131283)
    (http://slashdot.org/)

    OpenDNS is not a solution to this problem those with dynamic IPs, which includes most Earthlink customers (like me). By default, they do exactly the same thing Earthlink does: from their webpage [opendns.com]: "...when we can't fix your typo we take you to a page with a set of search results." They do allow you to turn that behavior off on their prefs page [opendns.com], but only if you have a static IP. And I somehow doubt that there isn't a speed hit going off your ISPs own network for all your DNS queries, anyway.

    The correct solution, of course, is to ditch Earthlink. Or in my case, not renew with them the next time I change my service -- unfortunately, changing now would be expensive. Until then, I'm going with Earthlink's secret, unbroken servers over OpenDNS.

    • Re:OpenDNS is no better by nine-times (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @12:32PM
      • The problem is the search pages by Kadin2048 (Score:3) Monday September 18 2006, @01:19PM

      • Re:OpenDNS is no better (Score:4, Informative)

        by davidu (18) on Monday September 18 2006, @01:44PM (#16132214)
        (http://www.everydns.net/ | Last Journal: Saturday April 26 2003, @12:34PM)

         
        So if you have typo protection enabled, and you type googl.ecom, it figures out that you meant google.com and directs you there. If it can't figure out the domain you intended, it sends you to their search page. If you disable the typo correction, then it just sends you to the search page immediately.


        That is absolutely false. If you disable typo correction you will never see the search page. The search page is intended to help users so if you turn off typo correction, you turn off that page. That's okay with us. You will see NXDOMAIN (RCODE=3) responses from our server. Like I've pointed out before, we're technologists and we're building functional and interoperable stuff here.

        Not to toot my horn or get all "Slashdot's lame" on this thread but I've been here a long time and it's clear to me that most of the users who posted on slashdot when we launched didn't even read our site or understand what it is that we're doing. Can we not make that mistake again?
         
        We're putting control and choice into users hands where there was none before. It's a fact of life that ISPs are doing this. They should be working with us, just like users are. We look at this as giving you a dashboard and all the knobs and buttons you need to manage DNS. DNS is the root (no pun intended) of a ton of applications and services so why wouldn't you want to manage it just like you would a firewall or anti-spam service?

        Best,
        David
        [ Parent ]
      • Re:OpenDNS is no better by Bert64 (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @01:45PM
      • Re:OpenDNS is no better by symbolic (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @02:12PM
    • Re:OpenDNS is no better by davidu (Score:3) Monday September 18 2006, @01:21PM
    • Re:OpenDNS is no better by Luyseyal (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @02:20PM

  • You have to abide by the wishes of the patient... (Score:1)

    by wwiiol_toofless (991717) on Monday September 18 2006, @12:15PM (#16131320)
    If Earthlink signed a Do Not Resuscitate order, then DNR dammit! Oh wait.. nm.

  • Less savy people will not know (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Opportunist (166417) on Monday September 18 2006, @12:18PM (#16131346)
    Who knows OpenDNS? Who knows of the alternatives? You do, I do, Joe Average doesn't. Ya know, the internet and a lotta tubes...

    Why do you think AOL is still in business? If people knew about their options, a lot of the large providers would go out of biz.

  • editors (Score:2)

    by minus_273 (174041) <aaaaa@NospAm.SPAM.yahoo.com> on Monday September 18 2006, @12:19PM (#16131356)
    (Last Journal: Wednesday May 16, @12:43PM)
    "which begs the question, WHY?"

    i dont think that begs the question at all. Slashdot so called editors strike a gain.
    • Re:editors by Mr Z (Score:1) Monday September 18 2006, @12:39PM

  • Moo (Score:3, Funny)

    by Chacham (981) on Monday September 18 2006, @12:20PM (#16131368)
    (http://tkatch.com/ | Last Journal: Monday October 29, @02:09PM)
    Better yet, let everyone have a say.

    Let's make DNS a wiki!
    • Re:Moo by Guppy06 (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @01:40PM
      • Re:Moo by bradkittenbrink (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @02:15PM

  • Dead DNS? (Score:1)

    by DeadCatX2 (950953) on Monday September 18 2006, @12:20PM (#16131371)
    (Last Journal: Tuesday September 19 2006, @01:23PM)
    Okay. The words "Dead DNS" are in quotations. Obviously this isn't common parlance.

    Can I get a definition? Please? Pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the fucking car?
    • Re:Dead DNS? by 0racle (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @12:28PM
      • Uh... by DeadCatX2 (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @12:34PM
      • Re:Dead DNS? by marcello_dl (Score:2) Monday September 18 2006, @05:18PM
    • Re:Dead DNS? -Answer by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Monday September 18 2006, @01:00PM

  • What's the catch? (Score:1)

    by nbritton (823086) on Monday September 18 2006, @12:27PM (#16131453)
    What's the business model for OpenDNS, how do they make money?

  • That's funny (Score:4, Insightful)

    by deinol (210478) on Monday September 18 2006, @12:34PM (#16131529)
    (http://www.fanig.com)
    Sounds like it's time for Earthlink users to check out OpenDNS.com... they make it easy to turn off the bad-URL behavior.

    Strange, it sounds to me like it's time for Earthlink users to find a new provider. I know sometimes there are very few options for broadband in an area, but last I checked there were plenty of dialup companies still competing and about.

  • Ehhh... (Score:2)

    by Guppy06 (410832) <diwancio@@@earthlink...net> on Monday September 18 2006, @01:35PM (#16132119)
    (Last Journal: Saturday October 27, @04:36PM)
    As far as I'm concerned, these DNS servers are a fine stopgap solution until I finish switching to a new ISP.

    But as for using "OpenDNS," my main objection is that I'm already paying for a DNS server with the cost of my subscription!. Why should I have to jury-rig this work-around, one that is only marginally less distasteful than earthlink-help.net, when I should be getting the Real Thing(TM) with the cost of my subscription (with support, thankyouverymuch)?

    The only reason I'm still here is that my parents are using my account as well. And that will be fixed when I visit them for Thanksgiving.

  • Ditched EL and still get their CR*P (Score:1)

    by put_the_cat_out (961909) on Monday September 18 2006, @02:02PM (#16132412)
    I ditched eartlhink early this year and started using Verizon's FIOS service. For some bizarre reason I can't figure out, I am still being directed to earthlink's DNS servers and getting their trash loaded when a page can't be found.

    Even worse, I have discovered it breaks a nice feature that I particularly like with safari (yes, I use mac os x). Safari's autocomplete feature apparently relied upon the standard dead page error and attempted to fill in the "www." and ".com", ".org", or ".net" to find a valid page. Now with earthlink's new DNS "feature", safari's auto complete won't work properly.

    How many times can earthlink screw me over by one lousy, unwanted "feature"?

    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.

  • No such thing as a dead domain (Score:3, Informative)

    by kindbud (90044) on Monday September 18 2006, @06:30PM (#16134577)
    (http://www.thekindbud.com/)
    It either exists, or it does not exist. If it doesn't exist, the only correct answer is NXDOMAIN. Anything else is some protocol other than DNS. There is no DEAD_DOMAIN_REDIRECT_TO_AD answer defined in the protocol. If the domain is not in the TLD servers, any answer but NXDOMAIN is a lie.

    That includes when it comes from OpenDNS nameservers, which is just another service that lies to you about DNS query results.

  • local DNS (Score:1)

    by robo_mojo (997193) on Monday September 18 2006, @09:29PM (#16135364)
    Yawn. I'll just continue using my local DNS recursor/resolver. That way I don't even have to think what my ISP is doing with their DNS servers.

    Who else is running BIND 9 on their home network?
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.

  • I use bbnplanet's dns (Score:1)

    by Don Giovanni (300778) on Monday September 18 2006, @10:57PM (#16135706)
    (http://m1t0s1s.blogspot.com/)
    Sweet! I'll add these to my list:
    • 4.2.2.4
    • 4.2.2.1
    • 4.2.2.2
    • 4.2.2.3
    • 4.2.2.5
    • 4.2 .2.6
    • 4.2.2.8


    Pinging 4.2.2.1 with 32 bytes of data:

    Reply from 4.2.2.1: bytes=32 time=37ms TTL=246
    Reply from 4.2.2.1: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=246
    Reply from 4.2.2.1: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=246
    Reply from 4.2.2.1: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=246

  • Re:"Begs the Question" (Score:2)

    by Intron (870560) on Monday September 18 2006, @02:23PM (#16132641)
    The following language constructions are no longer open for debate:
    • begs the question
    • our mutual friend
    • comprise
    • affect v. effect

    This is literally final!
    [ Parent ]
  • 7 replies beneath your current threshold.

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