This may be a bit of a noobish question, but I was taking a look at /etc/hosts on my new Xubuntu install and saw this:
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.1.1 myhostname
On most 'nixes I've used, the second line is omitted, and if I want to add my hostname to the hosts file, I'd just do this:
127.0.0.1 localhost myhostname
Is there a difference between these two files in any practical sense?
Best Answer
There isn't a great deal of difference between the two;
127/8(eg:127.0.0.0=>127.255.255.255) are all bound to the loopback interface.The reason why is documented in the Debian manual in Ch. 5 Network Setup - 5.1.1. The hostname resolution.
Ultimately, it is a bug workaround; the original report is 316099.