Yes, that's what it means.
When p1
gets routing information about some network n
from p2, it must decide whether or not to use the new route. Normally, it will use the new route (setting the link to p2
) only if it is better than the route it currently knows for n
. However, in the case that p2
was the gateway it already had for n
-- in other words, it got the information from p2
earlier -- then it accepts the new information, even if the new cost is higher than the old cost.
This allows p2
to inform its neighbours that it has lost connectivity to some other network (by setting its cost to the RIP equivalent of infinity). If the neighbours previously relied on p2
to reach that network, they will now invalidate their routes to that network and await information from some other gateway which does have connectivity. It also allows p2
to inform its neighbours that the cost of reaching n
has increased and they should use a cheaper route if they can find one.