hostname problem

[Sanosuke]

I have a problem with the 'hostname' command. Whenever I try and change my hostname (such as 'hostname foobar.com') my system screws up and I'm unable to launch a terminal. I have to reboot to fix it. Any ideas?

[thedexman]

First of all, the computer's hostname shouldn't contain a .com or any other TLD. I assume this is in X? If so, it is because X often uses hostname to authenticate clients (ie your terminal window) who want to connect to it. Just restarting X should fix that. If my assumption is wrong please give more info.

[DwarfBaby]

What distro? IF it's mandrake I think can. And yes teh Host Name should be something look like. BOB.lz.dsl.genuity.net

what's you ISP

[mcmanus69]

I've had similar problems. Usually, changing hostname to "localhost.localdomain" kinda makes everything work. Also adding the hostname that ur ISP gives u (if u use dhcp) to /etc/hosts kinda fixes the problem, too. The difference for me is that instead of terminals not launching, there's a HUGE DELAY (timing out?) before it works. I've posted my problems recently. Linux networking is a mystery.

[bdg1983]

Anytime you change the hostname, you need to reboot before everything will work properly again. It's sort of like changing your static ip address at least on Windows. Reboot for the changes to take effect.