Djbdns?

[Jonathan de Boyne Pollard]

d> Maybe I never fully understood how tinydns works -- probably so --

Certainly so.  

d> I do not think there is any distinction between "A" 
d> and "CNAME" records. 

Nonetheless, there actually is.

d> The "add-alias" script only accepts an IP address for the target!  

Correct, and nothing to in fact be surprised at.  "add-alias" is (one of quite
a few means) for creating _server-side_ aliases.  "CNAME" resource records are
_client-side_ aliases.

Understanding that there are _two different kinds_ of aliases is an important
step in the understanding of DNS service.