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Comment by hultner | Hacker News Reader

Browsers shouldn't be the entity deciding on address resolution, a domain system bound only to the web/httpx would be a huge leap backwards. This should be up to the os and whatever names resolution the os provides should be happily accepted by any network program, be it a browser, email client, ssh, irc or something completely different.

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Unfortunately, with at least Chrome and Firefox moving to DNS-over-HTTPS, they are the entities deciding on address resolution for 99% of average-user requests.

I would agree with you in principle however, in which case there's an even more impossible goal: get Microsoft, Apple, Google, and every Linux/BSD distro to agree to a new OS-level alternate domain name resolver that functions out of the box. And also stop Google and Mozilla from rolling out browser-level DoH.

Wonder if this means Cloudflare - and/or the other termination points for DNS-over-HTTPS - could be an interesting place to start adding an alternative DNS resolution system?

Then it wouldn't need to be done by any browsers... if the DNS-over-HTTPS end point provider does the additional name resolution, it should "just work".

Yes because that is what the internet needs, to have CloudFlare in control over more and more of it

We’re here because a private company has taken over .ORG

I see what you’re saying in theory, but it can’t be cloudflare or a private company or else it’s more of the same.

If it's done as a coalition of the places which provide DNS-over-HTTPS, it might work. :)

Negative. Private equity has billions to pay with. Everyone has a price.

The OSes appear to be signing up for DoH as well.

Browsers are the only ones actually willing to allow any change. If we wait for OSs to change nothing will ever happen. If it works well in browsers first then the OS will pick it up.

That's because there's no need for change. DNS works pretty well. There are various options to secure DNS, so that part of the DoH is also moot.

Browsers should respect the OS instead of trying to circumvent it.

Lastly, DNS is properly decentralized out of the box. I don't get that some people who argue for a decentralized internet also argue for DoH.

Similar to how email works and has various options to secure it but the reality is no end users were benefiting from it. How many OSs have enabled by default encrypted DNS? Browsers should primarily focus on providing the most secure and private browsing experience.

DNS is also not decentralized. It's centralised on ICANN and whatever company owns your TLD which is why this thread is here.

> Browsers shouldn't be the entity deciding on address resolution ...

See DNS Wars, Episode 6: "Resolverless DNS":

* https://blog.apnic.net/2019/11/04/dns-wars/

* https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/Resolverless-dns

('Amusingly' I cannot view the mailman page because Cloudflare DDoS protection is blocking me. The same CF that is doing DoH for Mozilla.)

> Browsers shouldn't be the entity deciding on address resolution

Someone tell the guys pushing DNS over HTTPS that.

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