Paul Abrahams wrote:
Just out of curiosity, what use does the hostid have?
It was originally *THE* hardware ID for a machine. Globally unique, hardwired into the machine. MAC addresses have largely taken over this function now nearly every machine has a network interface. It was used for any purpose in the system that required a unique address. This included various software packages that wanted to lock licences to particular machines. Over time, it became possible to change hostids, because it can simplify replacing a failed machine, for example, in the same way it became possible to change MAC addresses. It's use by the system has gone away, so it's now just used by some dinosoar software licensing systems. Some include their own programs to generate a suitable ID. Cheers, Dave