Why You Should Not Call It “Propagation”

1. It makes customers wait even though there is no need to wait (in other words, it effectively deceives the customer).
2. People do not realize that they are being misled.
3. They fail to notice problems in the service itself
   (for example, using the same server for both caching and content hosting including old zone).
4. Proper configuration checks are neglected
   (you should first verify the delegation (parent side) and the authoritative server using non-recursive queries).
5. Improper checks may create negative cache entries and cause self-inflicted problems
   (for example, suddenly sending a recursive query to a caching server before checking authoritative server).
6. Misconfiguration or system failures are not suspected until after waiting.
7. Many people confuse application-level caching with DNS propagation (for example, there have been cases where a browser cached data for 30 days).
8. Waiting for “propagation” leads to sleep deprivation (a waste of human resources).
9. It prevents people from properly understanding how DNS actually works.
10. It helps incorrect understanding spread and become established.
11. When told, “Don’t call it propagation,” people end up feeling offended (or they lash out and further expose their lack of understanding).
12. The same mistakes will certainly be repeated.
13. Attackers may recognize the opportunity and exploit the configuration gap to hijack the domain.
14. Etc. (additional examples are welcome)

Another anti-“propagation" page: DNS propagation does not exist