So, to be clear, in order to get the same (correct!) answers google is giving us for free, we should really be setting up an account and changing configurations from their defaults?
It sounds to me like I should configure a service when setting it up. You don't hook up a TV and just accept that the default settings are the best quality you're going to get.
And OpenDNS isn't the default here anyways. You have to make a conscious choice to use them. Unfortunately, there's a disconnect between creating an account on their site and setting up to use their resolvers.
Perhaps this would be resolved if they first redirected you to create an account when visiting the first website you go to? Much like a wifi hotspot with a login. At least then you would be prompted to create that account.
It is true that if you use something, you should configure it.
However, "Break the Internet" should not be an available option, especially not the default option.
Malware avoidance, spelling correction, etc. are all good things. However, DNS is not the right way to achieve these things.
Also, these things assume that you're only using the web. Let's say I open my IRC client, and mistype the domain of the IRC server. Guess what? Now I'm trying to connect to OpenDNS ad server as if it were an IRC server instead of getting an error instantly.
Don't screw around with DNS. Resolve the names, and that's it. If you need extra functionality, put it somewhere else, like the browser or the search engine or the OS.
And that's fine, because OpenDNS doesn't fit in with how you want your DNS resolver to operate. Again, it's a choice you have to make to switch to it, so you're fine to continue using whatever resolver you choose.
However, if you're like me and you enjoy the features that OpenDNS provides, then the choice to switch is easily made. If I would like to use OpenDNS for it's speed and still retain NXDOMAIN support, there is the option for me to do so (And admittedly, it's in an account section that should be more forward-facing). But I understand what the defaults are because I'm making the active choice. Don't insinuate that they hide these things away. NXDOMAINs are something that only advanced users would care about anyways, and you have to have a certain level of geekness to want to switch DNS resolvers anyways. So, give your fellow smarty-pants some credit!
However, "Break the Internet" should not be an available option, especially not the default option.
This has been the default behavior of every ISP I've had in the past 4 years. The one that allowed you to "opt-out" merely forwarded you to MSN Search instead. You say "don't screw around with DNS", but it is already as much a mess as every other part of the internet, and it will never be pristine again as along as there is a buck to be made.
Sounds like you haven't been reading enough OpenDNS fud. If you had been, you would know that by using Google DNS you are at risk from a nebulous Google threat where they come to control your entire internetz experience.
How else are they going to pay for their free, high performance DNS servers and network? Not a bad tradeoff, really.
Google can justify the expense of their DNS service w/ NXDomain's because it will speed up all of their web properties and generate more search revenue.
It'd be nice if you turned that off in your account if you don't like it. Most folks (who are not the news.yc crowd) are quite happy with our default experience.
And don't think I'm going to start tracking what you look at if you create an account, stats are off by default.
I really don't care about how much porn you look at online. :-)
When I write software, thanks to people like you now I can't depend on DNS to return accurate results. Another example of this is web browsers, which cache DNS beyond the TTL in order to provide a slightly faster experience. In the process, they break GSLB, which can no longer operate optimally since it can't rely on users re-querying DNS after the TTL of their answer expires.
Most folks are quite happy with your default experience, but that's because they're ignorant of the ramifications.
This is a really terrible way to convince someone to use your product and when you couple that with google hijacking you really don't have a service I want or will ever want to use (even if all is fixed)
That's all fine but one of the better things in business is to stay level headed when someone doesn't like your product and avoid coming off like a jackssa who could give two shits.
Look, the guy is running a business that is competing with Google. Moreover, his revenue model is perceptible (NXDomain redirects) while Google's revenue model is far from perceptible (silent aggregation of your entire internet experience: browsing, emailing, and search history).
I think some day when there is a massive privacy violation at Google we will understand what the costs of Google really are.
Until then, I don't think it's unreasonable to cut this guy some slack. His business is now directly in the crosshairs of the most powerful company in the world. I wish him good luck.
Sorry you think I'm coming off like a jackass. Most people find me fairly even-keeled. I was just sharing my perspective, and it's okay with me if you disagree.
