Re: does a home user on dialup need a domain name?
On Tue, May 08, 2007 at 08:40:16AM -0400, Douglas Allan Tutty wrote:
> On Mon, May 07, 2007 at 10:03:19PM -0400, Wayne Topa wrote:
> > Douglas Allan Tutty(dtutty@porchlight.ca) is reported to have said:
> > > On Mon, May 07, 2007 at 03:39:07PM -0700, Andrew Sackville-West wrote:
> > >
> > > Looking at man 1 hostname, it looks like /etc/hostname is just the short
> > > hostname. The FQDN comes from /etc/hosts.
> > >
> > man dnsdomainname
>
> Which redirects to man 1 hostname.
>
> The question is do I need to use a domain name?
>
The short answer is NO. The longer answer starts with 'Well, it
depends on ...'
If you, in the setup of your LAN, want to use FQDN to designate
different hosts on your LAN, then you need to assign an FQDN to each
host. Otherwise, FQDN is not needed. If you are using /etc/hosts as
the way each host finds the other hosts on your LAN, then the assigned
name for each host needs to appear in the /etc/hosts file of all the
other hosts on your LAN. It need not appear in the /etc/hosts file of
the host to which the name applies, only in the /etc/hosts files of
the others.
For convenience, I have all FQDN appear in all copies of /etc/hosts on
my LAN. That way I have avoided learning how to set up a proper DNS
lookup system.
Your IP numbers are a sure indication that you are not directly
connected to the internet. They are in a block of numbers that are for
local use only. Your host, Titan, actually has two IP numbers when it
is connected to your ISP. One is the local 192.168.1.1, which you
mention. The other is a number assigned by your ISP for use on the
dial-up connection. Software on Titan handles moving packets between
the ISP assigned channel and your internal LAN.
Keep in mind that these name assignments link a name to an IP address
that must be inaccessable from the internet. So, the name that you
assign must also be inaccessable from the internet. This gives you a
lot of freedom of choise in name assignment. However, don't try to
name one of your hosts 'lists.debian.org', or you will loose contact
with this list!
--
Paul E Condon
pecondon@mesanetworks.net
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