I have seen the other OpenNIC-related thread and why Cloudflare doesn’t want to support it at the resolver (1.1.1.1) level. I’m not here to argue the ‘pro’ side on that, despite disagreeing with the reasoning.
However, this shouldn’t affect the ability to create new zones for those domains. As it stands, the DNS Zone registration tool only allows TLDs that Cloudflare recognizes, I assume from the IANA list. For verification, etc. shouldn’t it be enough that cloudflare can talk to these services at the very least, such that registrations on non-ICANN registrars can still be managed by Cloudflare?
ICANN being the only registrar with no support, complete centralization, and very little transparency isn’t really ideal, though I understand why some might disagree. Cloudflare supporting other DNS nets would be very beneficial, even if the main resolvers don’t respect them.
Hi, I’m going to breeze by the first two points because I think my point was still clear despite where cloudflare chooses to source its TLD list or the specific phrasing of my original post. Thank you for pointing out ICANN is not a registrar, I used the wrong term there. I hope we don’t need to get hung up on that.
You missed my point with the resolvers don't respect them. Cloudflare’s resolvers at the public 1.1.1.1 server does not need to respect them. That’s not the issue. Any device that has OpenNIC DNS servers configured can and will resolve OpenNIC domains.
What is the specific reason Cloudflare cannot still be a DNS management solution for alternate DNS networks? Is it just a “cloudflare refuses to do this for [reasons]” thing? Or is there a legitimate technical reason why Cloudflare will not support domains other than those supported by ICANN?
TL;DR: It’s a lot of work and expense for no financial return
Speaking only for myself, I would not offer such a service because there is no commercial value in it. Cloudflare provides business solutions. Despite having an extremely wide array of products and services that are quite functional on their free tier, Cloudflare is still a business that exists to serve businesses.
While you and I and undoubtedly a fair amount of the MVPs and regulars here know what a DNS alternate root is, the bulk of the users of the internet have no idea how regular DNS works, let alone how they would use an alternate DNS hierarchy. Businesses are not going derive value by publishing DNS records to hierarchies that their clients do not use. For Cloudflare to devote human resources and capital expenditures to something that has no likely chance of a return on that investment does not make sense.
If there was a demonstrable business plan, it might change things, but it might not.
