Samba won't dance (more info)

[Tim]

Tim:
>> I found it easier to configure Samba to use normal DNS style
>> resolution, rather than have yet another file to configure (the
>> lmhosts file).

Anne Wilson:
> What exactly do you mean by 'normal DNS style'? 

On Linux, just about all networking things (e.g. mail, remote access to
a shell, X display, etc.), usually makes use of the Domain Name System
to resolve names and addresses.  It can do that by making use of a local
hosts file, or a DNS server.

Since you've already got that system in place (or probably should do),
it makes little sense to have to manage yet another separate thing that
does almost the same thing, especially if you have things which will get
different addresses from time to time.  If you have working DNS, then
all other services should really "just work".

The origins of SMB predates the common use of TCP/IP and DNS in a LAN,
hence why it has other methods, and used to (if it doesn't still)
default to using other techniques.  For Samba, you'd change the order of
things it uses to try and resolve names, to put DNS ahead of other
techniques.

There's a similar set of circumstances for Linux networking, if you look
at the nsswitch.conf file, you can change how your box resolves names.
The usual default is to first try the hosts file, then do a DNS lookup,
and there's other options, as well.

-- 
(This computer runs FC7, my others run FC4, FC5 & FC6, in case that's
 important to the thread.)

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