localhost or LAN addresses in /etc/hosts

[Derek Broughton]

Bart Silverstrim wrote:

> If we're talking home routers, those SOHO devices from
> Staples/newegg/whatever, chances are the @#$% things will die in less
> than a year or two anyway so the less I rely on them for configuring
> my network the less hassle I have replacing it.

My Linksys wrt54Gs have been running 3 years non-stop without any 
significant problems (and I can back up their configuration easily).
 
>> How is setting up MAC addresses to match devices in the router any
>> easier than editing /etc/hosts?  That's where I really don't follow
>> what you're advising.  As it is all I do is:-
> 
> Because you'd have to edit /etc/hosts on multiple machines if you have
> multiple machines to administer, 

Well, that's why he's using dnsmasq, and there's no real problem with 
that, but he can't have it both ways - he wants to maintain everything 
in one /etc/hosts, but he doesn't want to separate the "local" 
information from the "LAN" information, and so he's getting conflicts.
-- 
derek