On Tue, May 08, 2007 at 08:40:16AM -0400, Douglas Allan Tutty wrote: > On Mon, May 07, 2007 at 10:03:19PM -0400, Wayne Topa wrote: > > Douglas Allan Tutty([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is reported to have said: > > > On Mon, May 07, 2007 at 03:39:07PM -0700, Andrew Sackville-West wrote: > > > > > > Looking at man 1 hostname, it looks like /etc/hostname is just the short > > > hostname. The FQDN comes from /etc/hosts. > > > > > man dnsdomainname > > Which redirects to man 1 hostname. > > The question is do I need to use a domain name? >
The short answer is NO. The longer answer starts with 'Well, it depends on ...' If you, in the setup of your LAN, want to use FQDN to designate different hosts on your LAN, then you need to assign an FQDN to each host. Otherwise, FQDN is not needed. If you are using /etc/hosts as the way each host finds the other hosts on your LAN, then the assigned name for each host needs to appear in the /etc/hosts file of all the other hosts on your LAN. It need not appear in the /etc/hosts file of the host to which the name applies, only in the /etc/hosts files of the others. For convenience, I have all FQDN appear in all copies of /etc/hosts on my LAN. That way I have avoided learning how to set up a proper DNS lookup system. Your IP numbers are a sure indication that you are not directly connected to the internet. They are in a block of numbers that are for local use only. Your host, Titan, actually has two IP numbers when it is connected to your ISP. One is the local 192.168.1.1, which you mention. The other is a number assigned by your ISP for use on the dial-up connection. Software on Titan handles moving packets between the ISP assigned channel and your internal LAN. Keep in mind that these name assignments link a name to an IP address that must be inaccessable from the internet. So, the name that you assign must also be inaccessable from the internet. This gives you a lot of freedom of choise in name assignment. However, don't try to name one of your hosts 'lists.debian.org', or you will loose contact with this list! -- Paul E Condon [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
