[conspire] Gandi.net is my Jedi, now (was: Customer wants to give your firm money; support won't allow me)

[Michael Paoli]

Oh, and Gandi.net has a lovely API:
https://api.gandi.net/docs/reference/
And available sandbox:
https://api.gandi.net/docs/reference/#Sandbox-API
Can manage domains:
https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/
including:
Domain Contacts:
https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/#v5-domain-domains-domain-contacts
Domain Owner:
https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/#v5-domain-domains-domain-contacts-owner
And both have
data_obfuscated
which can be set to false turn off WHOIS privacy for Domain Owner,
and for Domain Contacts, it's set on a per-contact basis to show (false)
or hide (true), and with likewise on each, separate option
mail_obfuscated
Just for the email portion of each individual contact.
So, can easily inspect or set all of those to one's liking
(and I believe the web interface has pretty much same capabilities)
Can even check/set/clear
Domain Automatic Renewal:
https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/#v5-domain-domains-domain-autorenew
And,
duration integer
Default: 1
Minimum: 1
Maximum: 9
I'm guessing that's the number of years out into the future one wants it
renewed for?  But I don't see it detailed in the documentation there.
Perhaps if someone submits request to improve that on their
documentation they'll make that more clear.

They also have
DNSSEC Keys Management:
https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/#v5-domain-domains-domain-dnskeys
Which allows one to manage DS records, with additions/replacements
via submission of the public key.
I'd like to see their API / web page have option, per domain,
to enable management via CDS and/or CDNSKEY per RFC 7344, etc.
...
Okay, I submitted request:
Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2024 08:46:00 +0000
Subject: [GANDI] Your request 155532 was received - API & Web: feature
request: DNSSEC: add capability to manage via CDNSKEY/CDS records
I'm not expecting they'll implement it anywhere close to overnight ...
but perhaps by the time they roll out their next version of their API
back-end).  They're currently up to their API version 5.

So ... rock solid registrar that's responsive, has their sh*t together,
is very much about "no bullsh*t", quite reasonable pricing for what one
gets, or ... save maybe a couple bucks or so per domain per year,
and have semi-regular headaches and other problems that are much more
costly than that, in one's time, aggravation, and/or much more direct
impacts when the registrar screws up.

See also:
https://www.wiki.balug.org/wiki/doku.php?id=system:registrars#gandi_sas_gandinet

> From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
> Date: Sun, Jun 2, 2024 at 8:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [conspire] Gandi.net is my Jedi, now (was: Customer wants to give your firm money; support won't allow me)
> To: <conspire at linuxmafia.com>
>
> The last two red flags, the new ones, were the final straw, so I
> immediately took my business to Gandi.net.  Took an hour or two (might
> have been faster if I'd looked at my e-mail at one point).
>
> Gandi.net's Web site is sensibly designed, modern, no annoyances.
> Transfer process involved only a couple of polite upsell attempts
> (e-mail services, etc.).  Enabling public WHOIS was uncomplicated.
> Domains can be extended for up to 8 years at any time (or 9 depending on
> expiry date).  Pricing is not rock-bottom, yet reasonable, and also is
> public:   https://www.gandi.net/en-US/domain/tld?prefix=c#tld-table
>
> Customer WebUI puts no impediment at all in the way of leaving any time
> you wish, and not even the 60-day freeze on transferred-in domains many
> registrars impose. Customer is not pushed towards autorenew, let alone
> defaulted to it without permission.
>
> Customer contracts and disclosures seem reasonable.
>
> Don't settle for cruddy registrars.  The market beckons.