When running a network it is very useful to be able to access all your computers by name (e.g. 'quacky') rather than IP address. Ubuntu does not seem by default to send its hostname to the router on your network, so other machines are generally unable to access Ubuntu computers by hostname -- which becomes even more of a problem when IP addresses are dynamic and change regularly.

To configure Ubuntu to send hostname details, do the following:

Edit /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf to enter the hostname in send host-name "<hostname>"

Run sudo apt-get install winbind

Edit /etc/samba/smb.conf and add:

  name resolve order = lmhosts bcast wins host

 netbios name = <hostname>

Edit /etc/nsswitch.conf 'hosts:' line to hosts: files dns wins