localhost hostname problem

[Eric Diamond]

>From James Lawrence's reply to paul at sark.us on Saturday, June 26, 2004
6:07 PM:
> 
> Paul wrote:
> 
> >I'm having a devil of a time: running FC2 through eth0 RCA modem on 
> >comcast.net.  That connection did something, now instead of being 
> >localhost at login, I'm x1-6-04-4f-00 or something like that, which 
> >happens to be the hw addy of the eth0.  How do I change this, or at 
> >least nickname it, to get back to localhost?  I'm a newbie 
> wanting to 
> >learn! :)  Thanks.

localhost at localdomain is not really a valid hostname in a networked
environment. Comcast has strict internal guidelines requiring unique
hostnames thoughout their network. They have set up their DHCP servers
to force a unique hostname whenever they find a machine without one
(either no name at all or one that is currently in use). I'm not sure
which category they group localhost in, but since customers are not
allowed to use it the distinction is mute.

Eric Diamond
eDiamond Networking & Security
eric<at>ediamond[dot]net