> > Rather than drop ~$80 or so on a router, I thought that I'd get acheap
> > second NIC for an old computer and have it manage my DSL modem for me.
>
> Sounds like a good idea.

I thought so, too.  Now I need to sort out NAT, I think.  (Or maybe I can
get a fwe static IP's off of my provider for not-too-much extra.)


> >  (a) It doesn't seem to consult /etc/hosts anymore.  Instead, when it
 [...]
>
> I think this problem is actually related to your next problem. (Unless you
> have configured your nsswitch.conf(5) different from the defaults.)

Actually it was a dumb pilot error.  I turned around the entries, listing
name first and value (IP number) second.  Argh.

The system was consulting /etc/hosts, but it just wasn't getting any
useful information from it.  (^&


> >  (b) If I use the IP number directly, I get messages about no route
 [...]
>
> Show us your networking (clip out irrelevant info):

I sorted that one out, too.  Appears to have been a combination of bad
netmasking in one or two cases, and typos in ip numbers elsewhere.

Probably I should have just set the whole problem down for 30 minutes and
tried again from scratch before posting.  (^&  But I was getting
frustrated.


In a sense, you were right: The two problems were closely related (pilot
error).


Thanks.


  ``I probably don't know what I'm talking about.'' --rauch@math.rice.edu