/usr/hosts

[Phil Regier]

On many machines there is a directory called /usr/hosts which is intended
to contain files for each of the hosts on the network.  These files
have the same name as the machine and are symbolic links to /usr/ucb/rsh.
There is often a MAKEHOSTS file to generate this structure from the
/etc/hosts file.  I have seen this directory in BSD4.3, UMIPS 4.0
and SUN OS4.0.  What is the purpose of this directory?  Is it just
there so that users can put it in their path and thus be able to use
the machine name as an alias for rsh/rlogin commands or is it used
by some program(s)?  Thanks in advance for any answers.  I have
checked manuals but cannot find any info.