Bill Davidsen <davidsen(a)tmr.com> writes:
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wrote:
> Allen Kistler <an037-ooai8(a)yahoo.com> writes:
>> So the question really is: Is there a reason localhost is not both
>> the IPv4 loopback and the IPv6 loopback (*other* than hiding some bugs
>> in some programs)? Or should Fedora (and eventually Red Hat) change
>> the default /etc/hosts shipped/created with anaconda?
>
> One of the first things I do on an install is get rid of the lame
> distribution /etc/hosts file. I've done this since fc4 and fedora,
> just like netbsd and openbsd has no need for the silly targeted
> localhost names. The other silly thing is the "localhost.localdomain"
> entry coming first. Really, what is that about??? "localhost" has
> worked just fine for over 2 decades. Software understands it. What
> advantage is there to rocking the boat?
>
Using the hosts file for the local name and the names of a few useful
hosts is protection against some fascist ISP deciding to block or DNAT
all DNS queries to the ISP servers. So they can block lookup of sites
they deem harmful.
Oh, I guess I wasn't clear. I have a hosts file, I just object to the
silly localhosts entries in the stock fedora one. (Especially the
fact that the silly localhost*.localdomain name is first.)
I've never liked using ISP's nameservers. They never seem to be set
up right and are usually very old and buggy. Luckily I haven't been
subjected to an ISP that blocks or steals port-53. If they did I'd
certainly raise an unholy stink.
As an aside I wonder if stealing and re-transmitting forged 53/udp and
53/tcp packets in a man-in-the-middle attack is the sort of attack the
wiretap laws were meant to protect against. From what I understand,
organized crime used to cut the analog telephone wires tap in and
retransmit their own version of the signal in order perpetrate fraud.
Stealing mouse clicks by re-routing traffic for some hostnames strikes
me as a much milder form of the same fraud.
-wolfgang
--
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht
http://www.full-steam.org/ (ipv6-only)
You may need to config 6to4 to see the above pages.