Comment 128 for bug 959037

Belated reply to Robin Battey's #116.

My question in #115 was about alternative resolver libraries, not about DNS resolver libraries. There are libraries that play the same role as the whole glibc resolver. Generally these alternative resolver libraries include DNS resolvers and read /etc/resolv.conf for compatibility with the glibc resolver but I'd like to know whether or not, or to what extent, they also obey /etc/nsswitch.conf.

I believe I understand your basic idea well enough. Instead of using resolv.conf to direct name queries to nm-dnsmasq, use a new NSS module. This new NSS module, foo, would be like the existing dns "module" except that it would only talk to nm-dnsmasq, or would allow other ports than 53 to be specified so that nm-dnsmasq could be talked to over another port than 53. The new module would be named on the "hosts:" line in /etc/nsswitch.conf instead of "dns". (I don't see the point of listing both foo and dns, since foo *is* DNS.)

But how much less work would this be than adapting the glibc code so that ports other than 53 can be specified, e.g., via a new config file with enhanced semantics that (if present) overrides resolv.conf? And how much less is the risk of breaking software that uses alternative resolver libraries?