syslog(3) in ULTRIX 4.2 trivia

[Alan Pfeiffer-Traum]

In ULTRIX 4.2 syslog(3) resolves "localhost" by invoking something
called "gethostbyname_local". In ULTRIX 4.0 (don't know about 4.1) it
had used "gethostbyname".

Apparently "gethostbyname_local" doesn't pay attention to /etc/svc.conf
and so won't use the resolver if asked. It only looks in /etc/hosts.

This means you *must* have an entry for "localhost" in /etc/hosts. And
case is significant!

I did have an entry for the 127.0.0.1 address, but the name was in the
form "Localhost.UH.EDU". Obviously the usual resolver routines can match
this name just fine; my default domain is "UH.EDU". But, this
"gethostbyname_local" atavism failed.

It's curious that a number of the usual daemons were successfully
logging to the syslog daemon before I "fixed" my localhost entry in
/etc/hosts.  I assume this means some of the ULTRIX 4.2 binaries were
built against the previous syslog(3).
-- 
Alan