becarpenter-book6/1. Introduction and Foreword/How a user sees IPv6.md

# How a user sees IPv6

The answer should be: *they don't*. In an ideal world, users would never
need to be aware of the lower layers of the protocol stack, and they certainly
should never have to see a hexadecimal number, or even be aware that they are using IPv6.
The goal of a network designer or operator should be to make this true.

However, it's unlikely that this will always succeed. It's likely that if a
user ever does see something specific to IPv6, it's probably at the worst possible
time: when there is a fault or a system configuration issue. That is exactly
when the user is either reading on-line help information, or in contact
with a help desk. It is therefore recommended to review any documentation
you provide to users or to help desk staff to make sure that when IPv6 is
mentioned, the information is complete, correct and up to date. It's also
important that configuration tools are designed to avoid or minimize any
need for users to enter IPv6 addresses by hand.