[gentoo-user] Why do we add the local host name to the 127.0.0.1 / ::1 entry in the /etc/hosts file?

[Grant Taylor]

Hi,

I'm reading Kerberos - The Definitive Guide[1] and it makes the 
following comment:

> And to make matters worse, some Unix systems map their own hostname
> to 127.0.0.1 (the loopback IP address).

This makes me think that the local host name /shouldn't/ be included in 
the 127.0.0.1 (or ::1) entry in the /etc/hosts file.

However, according to the Gentoo AMD64 Handbook[2], we are supposed to 
add the local host name to the 127.0.0.1 (and ::1) entry in the 
/etc/hosts file.

Will someone please explain why the Gentoo AMD64 Handbook ~> Gentoo (at 
large) says to add the local host name to the 127.0.0.1 (or ::1) entry 
in the /etc/hosts file?  What was the thought process behind that?

Incidentally, adding the local host name to the 127.0.0.1 (or ::1) entry 
in the /etc/hosts file causes "hostname -i" to return 127.0.0.1 instead 
of the IP address bound to the network interface.

Thank you for any input you can provide.

[1] Kerberos: The Definitive Guide (p. 109). O'Reilly Media. Kindle Edition.
[2] 
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Handbook:AMD64/Installation/System#The_hosts_file



-- 
Grant. . . .
unix || die