3 ms·
> Then there’s how the :’s are used. For a full-length un-shortened IPv6 address, they are supposed to appear every 16 bits like: > dead:beef:0000:0000:0000:00
by mintplant 11y ago
> Then there’s how the :’s are used. For a full-length un-shortened IPv6 address, they are supposed to appear every 16 bits like:
> dead:beef:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
> I’m sure there was a reason for this choice, but to us after using IPv6 for years it still seems utterly arbitrary.*
If I had to guess, I would say they're there to chunk things up for reading aloud.
"Read me that address off the console."
"Okay, d-e-a-d..."
"Got it."
"...b-e-e-f..."
"Yep."
"...a bunch of zeroes, then 1."
They also make it harder to lose your place when reading it back.