IP address variable

[Bill Gradwohl]

John Miller wrote:

> DNS is for assigning IP addresses dynamically.  The hosts file is for 
> assigning DNS addresses (semi-) permanently.
>
> Of course, I may not be up-to-date on these things...
>
I was being facetious - I wasn't actually asking a question.

And, DNS isn't for assigning IP addresses, dynamically or any other way. 
That's DHCP's job. DNS is a way of associating names with IP addresses.

If one were to stuff a box's eth0 IP address in its hosts file, what 
purpose would it serve? If you then change the IP address you then also 
have to remember to change the hosts entry.

The hosts file is useful only if you don't have access to DNS, and only 
then for addresses that are foreign to the box itself. The hosts file is 
largely a pre DNS relic.



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Bill Gradwohl
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