Reminder that the only safe dummy domains to use are:
- example.com
- example.net
- example.org
And nowadays there's also a safe dummy TLD: .example
These are safe because they are reserved by IANA as as special-use domain names for documentation purposes on direction of IETF in RFC 2606 and RFC 6761.
Any other domain can be registered and as such should _never_ be used as a dummy domain for documentation or as eg. an example in default configs.
Removed “example.edu” from the list + submitted a correction to the Wikipedia page as “example.edu” is not mandated in the IETF RFC:s, see:
- https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2606#section-3
- https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6761#section-6.5
The “example.edu” appears to be in the same league as “example.se” and others – a class of second
level domains that a TLD owner itself has voluntarily chosen to reserve for documentation purposes, which is different from the other three which are directed by IETF.
To reduce the likelihood of conflict and confusion, a few top level domain names are reserved for use in private testing, as examples in documentation, and the like. In addition, a few second level domain names reserved for use as examples are documented. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.
@voxpelli Well, for a presentation I needed a dummy domain for a fictional "secure email" provider.
Every fantasy domain that I could come up with did actually exist. I ended up with an emoji-style "🔒mail.com" - but then, this may also be registered…
@voxpelli Funny story, I worked for a company called Canadian Bank Note and they used *.cbn as an internal TLD.
It was super fun when Christian Broadcast Network bought and released the now public *.cbn TLD.
@Routhinator Oh no 😂
We used to use *.dev as an internal TLD back when I worked with PHP and Apache and needed virtual hosts, but that changed when Google bought that and made it a public TLD.
There has been some work on getting *.internal reserved for such uses: https://github.com/wkumari/draft-wkumari-dnsop-internal/issues/6
@voxpelli I tried to use "dummy" in some code for work, and I was told that it was an insensitive term. I changed it to "placeholder".
https://media.tenor.com/ERa47gPVan8AAAAC/the-more-you-know.gif
@steve If used to describe a person, sure, but else not I think: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dummy
Also:
- ”placeholder": a person or thing that occupies the position or place of another person or thing
- ”dummy”: an imitation, copy, or likeness of something used as a substitute
I would say that ”dummy" would often be better replaced with ”fake" if one were to replace it:
- ”fake”: not true, real, or genuine
Eg: "crash dummy" vs ”crash placeholder” vs ”crash fake”
@steve Yikes, I guess its similar to eg. https://alexjs.com/
I like the spirit of promoting considerate writing, but I don't like it when its spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt in a way that risks silencing more than it helps.
When I need multiple domains for a book, I register them. Readers have trouble internalizing setups using example.net vs example.org, but two wildly different domains stand out.
(Really, I pick some of my domains that don't have the service I'm writing about and that feel right, but the point is: they are registered.)
@jnfingerle I did a correction to my main post now, the example.edu should not have been there, Wikipedia tricked me to thinking it was part of the IETF RFC.
My focus was on the second level domains of ordinary TLD:s, not on special TLD:s.
Also:
- All .invalid domains are explicitly by definition invalid
- .test domains are intended to test DNS related code
So for any ordinary use those two wouldn’t qualify anyhow.
See: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2606#section-2
To reduce the likelihood of conflict and confusion, a few top level domain names are reserved for use in private testing, as examples in documentation, and the like. In addition, a few second level domain names reserved for use as examples are documented. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.
To reduce the likelihood of conflict and confusion, a few top level domain names are reserved for use in private testing, as examples in documentation, and the like. In addition, a few second level domain names reserved for use as examples are documented. This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements.
@voxpelli See also: Google acquiring .dev and building Chrome to explicitly ignore your system's DNS settings and /etc/hosts lookup.
That… is part of why I refuse to use Chrome. I will not have my DNS or other network traffic hijacked by an advertising company known to share data with third-parties.
@voxpelli I wrote a doc on this. Not only for domains, but also IP addresses and phone numbers.
https://gist.github.com/atoponce/4c94e964e0953c95c3d1e67454fbb7e7
Andreas Thilander
Pelle Wessman
Datenegassie ❌
milosz
Hugo Slabbert ⚠️
Nicd 
TRAFFOPOST
Benjamin Schröter
morri
xmoo, the nimventurer
katzenberger
Chris Routh (He/Him)
Steve Dinn 🇨🇦
Martin Bagge / brother
RRB
Alan Martello
Thomas Steen Rasmussen
Michael Dexter
John-Mark Gurney
Michael W Lucas 
Jim P.
Keith Wansbrough
Tim Smith
gram
Dec [{(
)}]
Jan Niklas Fingerle
Rpsu (326 ppm)
Jef Poskanzer
Eli the Bearded
Avi Rappoport (avirr)
Rev. GothAlice
Aaron Toponce ⚛️
raboof