GlobalScale, you have some MAJOR explaining to do.

[bepraaa]

I noticed that DNS is not working in the default install on my SheevaPlug. Configuration issues aside, get a load of this:

Code:

root@debian:~# cat /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
91.189.88.36 ports.ubuntu.com
root@debian:~#

I've worked on Linux systems for just a few years, but this really made me want to puke.

What in hell made you think this was a good idea?

[rickover2009]

I'm in the same boat- what the hell ....I haven't got to doing a "Traceroute" but I must say this looks like a built in "wire-(wireless)" TAP"..
thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[bepraaa]

I'm in the same boat- what the hell ....I haven't got to doing a "Traceroute" but I must say this looks like a built in "wire-(wireless)" TAP"..
thank you for bringing it to my attention.

No, it's not a proxy-based wiretap...but it means that all sites aside from ports.ubuntu.com will be unaccessible except through their IP addresses. Not very nice coming from a web-based device.

What if everyone hard-coded IP addresses in their /etc/hosts file? There wouldn't be much of an internet then, would it?

[Blüto]

Don't you guys know what a HOSTS file is?

A HOSTS file maps names to IP numbers in the absence of a DNS server. In the above case it makes sure that the computer can always lookup the IP address 91.189.88.36 given the hostname ports.ubuntu.com even if the computer is offline or only intermittently attached to the Internet (as in an installation or upgrade scenario).

One of the most common applications of a HOSTS file is to provide name resolution for internal networks (e.g. myrouter.my.network --> 192.168.1.1, mypc.my.network --> 192.168.1.6, and so forth). So long as the HOSTS file is copied to all machines on your side of the router, they can find and communicate with each other by name and without the trouble of setting up a private DNS server for internal queries. You can also put vital mappings in your HOSTS file like your ISP provider's DNS, mail, time and other servers to provide some functionality in the event of an upstream outage.

Now, I believe Marvell and the Plug Partners (now there's a band name for you) deserve criticism for the apparent collapse of the 'plug ecosystem' as it were, but the HOSTS file and its function is a bloody elementary component of the TCP/IP protocol, gentlemen. It's not their fault you evidently have no clue what you're looking at.
 

[ppmt]

I was going to reply but Bluto was faster

I would add that what makes the internet as you say is the file called /etc/resolv.conf.

Now at worst what could happen here is that if Ubuntu changes the ip address of ports.ubuntu.com then you will
loose connectivity with it as your system will still use the IP address in the hosts

Not smart but definitely no evil here