1. (Or "sitename"). The unique name by which a computer is known on a
network, used to identify it in {electronic mail}, {Usenet} {news}, or other forms of electronic inform
ATion interchange. On
Internet the hostname is an
ASCII string, e.g. "foldoc.doc.ic.ac.uk" which, consists of a local part (foldoc) and a
domain name (doc.ic.ac.uk). The hostname is transl
ATed into an
Internet address either via the /etc/hosts file,
NIS or by the
Domain Name System (DNS) or
resolver. It is possible for one computer to have several hostnames (aliases) though one is design
ATed as its
canonical name. It is often possible to guess a hostname for a particular institution. This is useful if you want to know if they oper
ATe network services like
anonymous FTP, {World-Wide Web} or {finger}. First try the institution' s name or obvious abbrevi
ATions thereof, with the appropri
ATe
domain appended, e.g. "mit.edu". If this fails, prepend "ftp." or "www." as appropri
ATe, e.g. "www.d
ATa-io.com". You can use the
ping command as a quick way to test whether a hostname is valid. The folklore interest of hostnames stems from the cre
ATivity and humour they often display. Interpreting a sitename is not unlike interpreting a vanity licence pl
ATe one has to mentally unpack it, allowing for mono-case and length restrictions and the lack of whitespace. Hacker tradition deprec
ATes dull, institutional-sounding names in favour of punchy, humorous, and clever coinages (except th
AT it is considered appropri
ATe for the official public g
ATeway machine of an organis
ATion to bear the organis
ATion' s name or acronym). Mythological references, cartoon characters, animal names, and allusions to SF or fantasy liter
ATure are probably the most popular sources for sitenames (in roughly descending order). The oblig
ATory comment is Harris' s Lament: "All the good ones are taken!" See also
network address. 2.
Berkeley Unix command to set and get the applic
ATion level name used by the host.
Unix manual page: hostname(1). (1995-02-16)
In addition suitable contents:
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