Thanks to everyone who replied, not just Dan... So...
On Mon, 19 Feb 2018, at 13:30, Dan Purgert wrote: > Jeremy Nicoll wrote: > > What, on a home LAN, is that used for? > > In general terms, supplying domain information at setup time adds a > "helper" record to /etc/resolv.conf (or whatever RH, Windows, etc. > uses). Note that if you use DHCP, this step is usually skipped, as the > DHCP server provides the information. On a Win8.1 system, ipconfig /all does show me a hostname (the same value as %COMPUTERNAME%) which happens to be a combination of the machine's manufacturer name, and model There's no domain value at all, though DHCP is in use... but I suppose I configured the DHCP server (in the router/switch) and maybe left fields blank there... > In short, the "helper" record appends the domain name to a hostname, so > you don't have to type out a FQDN when you're trying to get to a remote > host. Do you mean when someone outside the LAN is trying to connect to my machine? I'd assume that makes sense only on a corporate / company LAN with a static IP gateway address and that address would be defined in DNS matching the company's domain name... and - if that's right - I can see that telling each pc on the LAN that it's part of the company's domain makes sense... Other than that, opinion seems divided on whether for a home LAN it makes more sense to leave domain name unset, or to provide a value (picked carefully, perhaps ending ".test" or ".invalid"). In some ways I like the idea of providing a planned/known name, if only because I'd recognise it for what it is if I saw it in error messages, logs etc in future. I almost wonder if, to avoid any potential name conflict, one would be sensible to register a domain, and then NOT have it point at one's own home LAN - because unless a dynamic DNS service is used, how could one keep that uptodate (my cable internet ISP does change my WAN ip address occasionally) - and use its name on the home system. But then again that might have unintended consequences. -- Jeremy Nicoll - my opinions are my own.
