Pete Lacey’s Weblog

24502. 5 little digits generated by a simple linear function. In this case a linear function is the fancy way of saying that this number was created by adding one to the preceding number. Ignoring locking issues, such a function might be expressed in code as follows:

int genNumber() { return ++previous_value };

Where previous_value is a global variable.

It also took IANA 14 days and 11 minutes to generate it.

You see, I have a little LDAP-oriented project I’m working on. As part of the project I will need to create some LDAP attributes and object classes. The way LDAP works is if you create an entity for inclusion in a directory, then it needs to be uniquely identified by something called an Object Identifier (OID). And the way to create an OID is to get one from IANA (or some other responsible party). For instance, here is the beginning of the standard inetOrgPerson:

objectclass ( 2.16.840.1.113730.3.2.2 NAME 'inetOrgPerson' ... )

That number begining with 2.16 is the object’s unique identifier. Each of those digits has a meaning. The 2.16.840.1 part signifies a US company. The 113730 number was assigned to Netscape (sniff, we hardly new ya). After that, it’s up to the owner to further divide their OID tree as desired.

If you’re a private enterprise and you get your OID from IANA, then it will begin with 1.3.6.1.4.1. The number that follows is the bit that’s sequentially assigned. In my case then, I am 1.3.6.1.4.1.24502. Any digits after that are mine to create (though there are common practices). What I don’t get is how this could possibly have taken 14 days!

Here’s my theory on how things work at IANA (Occams razor be damned). When you submit the IANA form for creating a private enterprise number, the information is scrolled onto a VT100 somewhere in the sub-basement of a black building in Washington D.C. In front of this terminal sits a wizened old man who watches for new information to pop onto the bottom of his screen. He briefly warms his hands at the coal brazier, dips his quill into ink he fashioned himself from boot-black and whale oil, and hastily copies the information down as it scrolls by. At the end of his shift he carries the sheaf of parchment up to the processing center. Two days later an enormous woman takes the oldest request from the pile, trundles over to her Hazeltine 2000, and pecks in a confirmation email. The requestor’s response arrives within minutes, but all the acknowledgement emails are being spewed onto the floor of a building 2 blocks away where they are being printed by the only remaining DECwriter II. Every Wednesday a street urchin is given a ha’penny to retrieve the pile of green and white continuous feed paper, and bring it back to processing. Processing, of course, consists of sending an acknowledgement of the acknowledgement. Finally, on the fated day, the enormous woman retrieves “the one true folder” in which is contained the most recently used private enterprise number. Leaving no room for error, this number is keyed into her Baldwin Calulating Machine, followed by a plus sign, the number one, and a triumphant pull on the crank. The resulting value is copied onto a new piece of paper and placed in “the one true folder,” while the previous value is burned without ceremony. Finally, some two weeks after the initial request, the enormous woman types out a reply on here trusty Hazeltine (known affectionately to her as Maude), and the prospective object class creator is in business.

Welcome to the world number 24502.