Re: [gentoo-dev] Re: rfc: /etc/hostname on gentoo

[Mike Gilbert <floppym@gentoo.org>]

On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 12:11 AM, Duncan <1i5t5.duncan@cox.net> wrote:
> Mike Gilbert posted on Wed, 24 Aug 2016 11:49:42 -0400 as excerpted:
>
>> On Wed, Aug 24, 2016 at 7:42 AM, Michael Orlitzky <mjo@gentoo.org>
>> wrote:
>>> On 08/24/2016 07:37 AM, Daniel Campbell wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I imagine _someone_ out there wants it, otherwise we wouldn't be
>>>> discussing it.
>>>
>>> The thread started out proposing it as a solution to a docker problem
>>> that, it turns out, isn't a problem. Why are we still trying to fixing
>>> something that isn't broken? Maybe I'm losing it, but nowhere in the
>>> whole thread has anyone given a single reason why this might be useful.
>>
>> You're right that the orignal purpose of the change has been debunked.
>>
>> So, starting over: one real benefit would be cross-compatibility with
>> systemd. It's one less thing people would need to reconfigure when
>> migrating to/from openrc.
>>
>> And before anyone starts an argument about it, I don't care what your
>> opinion on systemd is. I'm just throwing this out there as an actual
>> benefit of adding support for /etc/hostname to openrc.
>
> Are you sure about systemd?

Yes, I am certain that systemd uses this file to set the system
hostname. It does *not* read /etc/conf.d/hostname, which is the main
point here.

> Because I'm on systemd here, working fine as far as can be observed, and
> I don't have /etc/hostname.
>
> [after googling and checking manpages]
>
> Seems it's (semi-?)optional.  The hostnamectl command can be used to set
> the hostname (pretty/static/transient/or-combination-of) among other
> things, and /etc/hostname presumably controls the static name.
> But I have the (reported as transient) name set by kconfig option, and
> apparently that's all that's needed on my setup, anyway.

Nobody actually does this, except you and a few other Gentoo people.
Most kernels in the wild are compiled by distro maintainers, who have
no idea what you want to call your computer.

Setting the hostname via a text file in /etc is a lot simpler than
re-configuring a kernel.

> So it seems systemd works just fine without /etc/hostname, certainly so
> if it's set elsewhere, like say via kconfig option.

I never said /etc/hostname was necessary for operation of systemd.

It *is* the way that normal people set their hostname for a system
that doesn't get configured via DHCP or some dynamic method.