The first line in /etc/hosts should be something like this:
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
Then there comes a second line, that you in most cases need to add yourself. If you've got a dhcp network connection, then this second line should start with 127.0.0.1 , so that it associates your ip address to 127.0.0.1. But if you've got a static net connection, then this could be your actual ip address instaead of 127.0.0.1, so that your actual ip address is associated with the localhost ip address.
A common setup would be like this (notice that this is merely the syntax, don't use it as such):
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
your_ip_address your_localhost.your_dns_domainname
Now, you can point your web browser to this address, for example:
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 It will show how your ip address will be seen by others when you surf the net. Notice that there's red text on that page "The text below might uniquely identify you on the Internet" and after that there's some blue text that will show how your address will show on the net. The part before the first period mark is your individual machine's ip address. All the stuff after that first period mark will be your dns domain name.
You can give your computer a personal hostname, ("debian" is fine), but you cannot change the dns domainname.
Now, "su" in a terminal window to become root and do "nano /etc
/hosts". If you've got a dhcp connection, you can make the first two lines to look like this:
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
127.0.0.1 debian.your_dns_domainname
In this case you need to take the "your_dns_domainname" from the blue text in
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 , like described above.
But if you've got a static ip address, then replace the "127.0.0.1" with your actual ip address, so that /etc/hosts looks something like this:
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
your_actual_ip_address debian.your_dns_domainname
Now try again the commands:
$ localhost
$ localhost -i
$ dnsdomainname
Now you should get the proper output and the programs looking for this info should also launch without any unnecessary delays.
You usually set the loopback interface in /etc/network/interfaces . It should be something like this:
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
This is actually much more important than setting the host- and domainname, but getting everything right never hurted anyone.
@Tons of Fun:
Unfortunately Gnome is a bit of a memory hog. You might want to install xfce4 and run your Gnome apps from there. (If you decide do this, make sure that you've got the "menu" package installed -- it should show all your familiar Gnome apps in a mouse right-click menu.)
EDIT:
One more thing: Whenever you update the X server related programs (or add new fonts), do first " su" in a terminal window and then do "fc-cache -fv". This will make applications to find fonts faster.
