Reading the forums the past couple of months, I was wondering why I kept seeing problems related to /etc/hosts (i.e. long application startup). I finally decided to look today at why everyone was having this problem, only to find the install guide reading: "If your system is the only system (or the nameservers handle all name resolution) a single line is sufficient: Code Listing 19: /etc/hosts for lonely or fully integrated PCs 127.0.0.1 localhost" The old installation guide contained the following warning: "Note: If you are on a DHCP network, it might be helpful to set localhost to your machine's actual hostname. This will help GNOME and many other programs in name resolution." http://web.archive.org/web/20030602200935/www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86-install.xml I believe this warning should not only be put back, but it should also be _highlighted_. Additionally, this also causes problems for KDE. Many people are having problems related to this. See the following for reference: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=182362 (there's lots more like it as well) Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. 2. 3.
Just for reference, my /etc/hosts has the following two lines: 127.0.0.1 localhost 127.0.0.1 machinename
The current instructions regarding /etc/hosts are correct. You just need to make sure that your hostname and fqdn are listed in the /etc/hosts. """ For instance, if your internal network consists of three PCs called jenny (192.168.0.5), benny (192.168.0.6) and tux (192.168.0.7 - this system) you would open /etc/hosts and fill in the values: 127.0.0.1 localhost 192.168.0.5 jenny.homenetwork jenny 192.168.0.6 benny.homenetwork benny 192.168.0.7 tux.homenetwork tux """ Note the fact that tux is the hostname for _this_ system and is listed in /etc/hosts.
