Hi,
not sure what the severity is, please adjust to suit.

I was examining the /etc/host.conf file on some etch boxes.

host.conf(5) explains that
   multi  Valid values are on and off. If set to on, the resolv+ library will
	  return all valid addresses for a host that appears in the /etc/hosts
	  file, instead of  only  the  first.
	  This  is  off  by default, as it may cause a substantial performance
	  loss at sites with large hosts files.

On examining all the hosts I have currently installed with etch, I found
all of them configured with "multi on"; this is the only line in the file.
I didn't set these files as far as I am aware, so this suggests the default
is actually "multi on".

Is the default set wrongly, or just incorrectly documented?

Kind Regards
Vince

NB: my install method is netinstall of a minimal system ("standard" in tasksel),
    then add packages via a package list and apt-get dselect-upgrade.

Vincent McIntyre wrote:

Chosen at random, I assume? Not even present in etch, version number
never distributed in debian, and never had anything to do with
/etc/host.conf.

So the manpages package is out of date WRT the file includes in
base-files.

#459664 - host.conf: "multi on" appears to be default
http://bugs.debian.org./459664

I just checked the source.  The default (when no host.conf exists or
includes no multi line and none of the overriding environment
variables are sert) seems to be "multi off"; however debian
distributes a conffile with default content "multi on", so the
behavior default is different from the behavior default in glibc.
It's not clear to me if this justifies an explanation in the manpage,
as this same situation occurs with some regularity; perhaps the
conffile should instead include comments; in particular, a commented
line for each value that is left at the default (and of course an
uncommented line for each value that's changed therefrom).

#459664 - host.conf: "multi on" appears to be default
http://bugs.debian.org./459664

I just checked the source.  The default (when no host.conf exists or
includes no multi line and none of the overriding environment
variables are sert) seems to be "multi off"; however debian
distributes a conffile with default content "multi on", so the
behavior default is different from the behavior default in glibc.
It's not clear to me if this justifies an explanation in the manpage,
as this same situation occurs with some regularity; perhaps the
conffile should instead include comments; in particular, a commented
line for each value that is left at the default (and of course an
uncommented line for each value that's changed therefrom).

It is in fact a little bit inconsistent that glibc has a default and
we override it in /etc/host.conf by default.

I don't quite understand the rationale given by the manpage, namely:

       multi  Valid values are on and off.  If set to on, the resolv+  library
              will  return  all valid addresses for a host that appears in the
              /etc/hosts file, instead of only the  first.   This  is  off  by
              default, as it may cause a substantial performance loss at sites
              with large hosts files.

Are there really many systems using large hosts files these days?
Do they really suffer from bad performance by using "multi on"
(which, by way of /etc/host.conf, is the default in Debian).

Could we make "multi on" the default in glibc and remove host.conf entirely?

It is in fact a little bit inconsistent that glibc has a default and
we override it in /etc/host.conf by default.

I don't quite understand the rationale given by the manpage, namely:

       multi  Valid values are on and off.  If set to on, the resolv+  library
              will  return  all valid addresses for a host that appears in the
              /etc/hosts file, instead of only the  first.   This  is  off  by
              default, as it may cause a substantial performance loss at sites
              with large hosts files.

Are there really many systems using large hosts files these days?
Do they really suffer from bad performance by using "multi on"
(which, by way of /etc/host.conf, is the default in Debian).

Could we make "multi on" the default in glibc and remove host.conf entirely?

Sorry, I forgot to Cc the bug address. I wrote the rationale for the reassign here:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=459664;msg=34#34

Also, please note that the following two addresses do not work anymore:

Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>
Justin Pryzby <jpryzby+d@quoininc.com>

(In case you want to avoid bounces)

Thanks.