[PATCH] resolv: Avoid duplicate query if search list contains '.' (option 2)

[Carlos Peon Costa]

On Fri, Jan 9, 2026 at 11:40 AM Florian Weimer <fweimer@redhat.com> wrote:

> I think the traditional assumption is that "." in the search list is
> unsuported and should be removed.  I checked the documentation of
> multiple implementations, and no one seems to document the intended
> behavior of ".".
>
> Are you using "." to suppress search list processing?
>

Yes, I'm using "." to suppress search list processing. Not setting the
"search" option implies its default value: the local domain name, so
there is no trivial configuration to disable search list processing.

IMO "." in the search list looks weird and I think an empty search
list (without failing back to local domain name) should be a valid
configuration to disable search list processing, but that would break
default behaviour and probably is not an option.

Another option is to set a hostname without dots and an empty search
option, which translates to 'root' domain as the local domain name and
also should disable search list processing. I think that using regular
fqdn hostnames and search "." is more appropriate.

IMO unsupporting "." in the search list and keeping supporting setting
hostnames without dots (which both lead to the same scenario: no
search list processing) seems unnecessary to me.

Thanks,
Carlos.