Re: hostname
On Thu 15 Feb 2018 at 09:38:06 (-0500), Greg Wooledge wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 01:40:17PM -0000, bolakim53@mail2tor.com wrote:
> > * debian 9 is dedicated to ian murdock and i wonder why they (dev) have
> > not set (default) it as hostname.
>
> "debian" is the default hostname during installation, IIRC.
Because -ian is a common suffix in English, it might not be obvious to
everyone that Deb-Ian was named after two individuals.
> > do i need a hostname ?
>
> Yes.
>
> > * debian does not install without & "space" is not accepted.
>
> Then make something up. Try "debian". Or "linux". Or "mycomputer".
>
> Later, once you understand how a local network works, you can come
> up with a theme. Or some convention that lets you identify the
> computer by its name. The name that you have chosen.
>
> > what is the hostname the more used on the net ?
>
> When you have a network of dozens of workstations and you're using
> ssh to connect from one to another, the hostname lets you keep track
> of *where you are*.
>
> When you have a network of dozens of workstations and one of your users
> reports a problem, the hostname lets them tell you which computer is
> having the problem, so you know where to login to fix it (or where to
> go in person if the problem can't be resolved by ssh login).
>
> > * i did not find a map, a table about that.
There are several lists of "most popular" hostnames. I guess they're
dominated by servers, and often they're aliases, like www, rather than
the name of the machine(s) offering the service.
Even allowing for that, I would imagine that there are server farms
where most of the hostnames are systematically generated, meaningful
names rather than the memorable names that we ornery folk would use.
In spite of that, planets and suchlike always do well.
> > does it provide more anonymity to choose it ?
> > * is it not hidden or encrypted ?
> > should a 'hostnamechanger' be a good idea as foss-privacy tool ?
This might be connected with the OP's country of residence.
> Is that why you're asking this crap? Because you think that your
> choice of hostname could help someone track you down to arrest you
> for your illegal activities?
Here you can get arrested for dialling 911 to report criminal activity.
> > *it could take the last connected on a wifi-spot
>
> Oh god, you're a MOBILE user. Laptops or something. You've probably
> never even *used* a desktop PC/workstation. You have no understanding
> of the way local area networks work because you've never BEEN ON ONE,
> and you probably never will be.
I've read the explanations of what happens when you do and when you
don't fill in the "[ ] Use DHCP Hostname" and "DHCP Hostname: alum"
fields in ones wicd configuration, but I wouldn't claim to understand
what the consequences are, whether dhclient uses it, what for, etc.
And when I travel, I'm more concerned about how to navigate to the
correct T&C web page than about the wireless connection, which wicd
can set up in seconds.
> The concept of computers being in
> fixed locations with fixed names so that you can, y'know, FIX them, is
> probably completely alien to you.
>
> And I bet you don't care.
I like to do things correctly where I can. One day, I might figure out
the knotty problem of a domain name for a home LAN. But I give up with
IPv6 and will carry on hacking it for a fast P2P connection. No ULA
or global prefix here, I'm afraid.
Cheers,
David.
Reply to: