There's certainly a process that is between form being submitted and all 5 of ns[1-5].he.net returning the new data. From experience with other DNS changes at he.net, successful response is returned over HTTP before the changes are visible via the name servers.

I don't see what's wrong with calling that process propagating a change. And since it's propagating the change to become available in DNS, propagating DNS fits. :P

That process doesn't really involve any caching resolvers between you and the authoritative, but since you had to wait for the changes to propagate to the authoritative servers and you're just doing more waiting until the caching resolvers re-query, I understand why people include waiting for caching revolvers when they say DNS propagation.

Anyway, I'm open to a good definition of "propagate" that specifically requires push or an active process rather than pull/polling; I don't really see a basis for that looking at merriam-webster[1]:

> 3a: to cause to spread out and affect a greater number or greater area : extend

> b : to foster growing knowledge of, familiarity with, or acceptance of (something, such as an idea or belief)

By changing the results on the authoritative and as caching recursive resolvers requery, the new results spread out and affect a greater number. By answering queries with the new data, as caching recursives requery, the servers foster growing knowledge of the new results. And certainly those definitions fit toward updating the authoritative servers.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propagate

whoops good catch, I had thought it was a synonym for the record ttl's expiring

I'll go fix it now