Ask HN: CLI tools for DNS, IP, and HTTP (like ViewDNS.info)

2 points

13 years ago

I use tools like ViewDNS.info with some regularity, but it has always struck me as strange that these tools are packaged as a web service, rather than an open source tool that you can use from the command line. Additionally, there's zero transparency at ViewDNS. I don't even know who they are. That tingles my spidey sense every time I use the service.

Some of the tools at ViewDNS are already implemented as basic command line tools (ping, dig, traceroute, curl, etc), but more advanced items like the DNS report aren't. These are the tools I use most frequently.

The question for HN is: is there already a package or library that has the same functionality? Specifically, a tool that contains the non-trivial features like DNS reports with sanity checks, DNS propagation, spam database lookups, etc.

Assuming there isn't, what's the interest level in a toolset like this. Do you think it's something that makes sense as a package for a scripting library (like Ruby or Python), or do you think that it should be implemented as a native application for Linux (written in C)?

From my perspective, I see something following the Git CLI model where you invoke the tool, issue a command, and pass options.

    newtool dns-report domain.com

Something like Ruby's Rake might make even more sense, with it's built-in support for namespacing.

    newtool dns:report domain.com

I think it makes sense as a scripting language package, seeing that there are no performance requirements here. Writing it in a scripting language would make contribution more accessible. With good namespacing, it would be easy for authors to contribute new modules for additional functionality.

Thoughts?