<joerg@britannica.bec.de> wrote in message 
news:<20060219191427.GA11308@britannica.bec.de>...
> "Shipping a product with a specific value pre-enabled would be
> inappropriate and can lead to interoperability problems when the
> chosen value collides with a different usage, as it someday surely will."
>
> aka: it is not really better than the status quo.
>

I was thinking about two _commented_ config lines, one to enable CARP and 
other to choose protocol. Also we must think about /etc/protocols as it's 
not autogenerated, afaik. Doing this would respect somehow RFC3692 and here 
is the entire paragraph:

'  Numbers in the experimentation range are similar to those called
   "Private Use" in RFC 2434 [IANA-CONSIDERATIONS].  They are not
   intended to be used in general deployments or be enabled by default
   in products or other general releases.  In those cases where a
   product or release makes use of an experimental number, the end user
   must be required to explicitly enable the experimental feature and
   likewise have the ability to chose and assign which number from the
   experimental range will be used for a specific purpose (i.e., so the
   end user can ensure that use of a particular number doesn't conflict
   with other on-going uses).  Shipping a product with a specific value
   pre-enabled would be inappropriate and can lead to interoperability
   problems when the chosen value collides with a different usage, as it
   someday surely will. '

Also about misusing (imho) 112 vrrp id protocol:

'  From the above, it follows that it would be inappropriate for a group
   of vendors, a consortia, or another Standards Development
   Organization to agree among themselves to use a particular value for
   a specific purpose and then agree to deploy devices using those
   values.  By definition, experimental numbers are not guaranteed to be
   unique in any environment other than one where the local system
   administrator has chosen to use a particular number for a particular
   purpose and can ensure that a particular value is not already in use
   for some other purpose.

   Once an extension has been tested and shown to be useful, a permanent
   number could be obtained through the normal assignment procedures.'

-- 
Mihai