> On Fri, 21 Jun 2002 at 17:59:25 -0700, Marc Barnett wrote: > > The only line I have now in the file is:- > > 127.0.0.1 <machine name>.clara.co.uk <machine name> > > Change this to: > > 127.0.0.1 localhost <machine name>.clara.co.uk <machine name> > Have done so, and it seems to work - at least now I'm trying to wade through over 22,000 newsgroups my ISP has and decide which to subscribe to.
> or alternatively > > 127.0.0.1 localhost > <your ip> <machine name>.clara.co.uk <machine name This I presume would be if I had a static DNS or was on a LAN. > > Trying to ping localhost now says 'unknown host host' and pinging > > localhost says 'unknown host localhost' and this was not the > > case before I changed /etc/hosts. I've never understood how > > loopback works and have assumed 127.0.0.1 was how all machines > > refer to themselves. > > 127.0.0.1 does always refer the machine to itself[1], but humans > use "localhost". Such translations need to occur in the > /etc/hosts file (or in DNS, but that's secondary to your problem) > > > After a couple of years being mystified by FQDN's I thought at > > long last I did understood - now I just don't know. > > Fully Qualified Domain Name, it's the name used to get your IP > from DNS without using or requiring local assumptions. > > For instance "www.debian.org" is "klecker.debian.org" and both are > the FQDN. "klecker" is enough to get to the machine from itself or > other machines configured to assume "debian.org" but the full name > is required to get to it from the rest of the world. > > 1: Assuming you have a lo device and it's configured, etc, etc... > Too much complication doesn't do anything but muddle the answer. > I'm very grateful for your help - clearly it has help me understand quite a bit more. Many thanks, John. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]