Problem with DHCP, /etc/hosts and GNOME

[Julien Olivier]

On Thu, 2004-04-08 at 18:16, duncan brown wrote:
> because winXP is winXP and linux is linux (well, gnome is gnome).
> 

I would even say Fedora is Fedora :)

> they're different, so they behave differently.
> 
> the way that the X11 protocol (takes all the information from the gnome
> programs and sends it to XFree86) and XFree86 (what actually displays
> what's on your screen) works is like any other network protocol, in fact,
> if i were so inclined i could run gnome-session on my server in new jersey
> and display it on my screen here in southern maryland, about 300 miles
> away (though the refresh and latency would suck, heh).  now, gnome wants
> to ENSURE that it's displaying on the correct screen and not where it's
> not wanted or where it shouldn't be.  this is why it wants to make sure
> that the hostname it's finds on start is the proper one to display on. 
> some things will panic and crash.
> 
> -d
> 
> www.gnome.org has more info, if you're so inclined to look for it.
> 

Actually, I know that already. But what I don't understand is why can't
GNOME know that my hostname matches my own computer ? After all, eth0 is
started and a new hostname is set for me by the router. What should be
done for GNOME to be aware that this new hostname points to my computer
? 

It's even stranger when GNOME starts and tells me, through an error
dialog, that I have to add my hostname to /etc/hosts... Why can't it
just be added automatically without warning me ?

I don't understand why I have to tell it myself (by adding my hostname
in /etc/hosts)...

-- 
Julien Olivier <julo at altern.org>