Linux networking

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This is a general guide to Linux networking, mostly as a collection point for links to relevant articles.

dhclient (a.k.a. dhcpcd) is the Linux program which manages the conversation with a DHCP server and thereby sets the client's IP address and other related settings.
dnsmasq is a daemon for providing DNS and DHCP services on a Linux server. It can be used to replace those services typically provided by residential router/gateway hardware, but with much more flexibility (and without having to lose the network connection whenever a change is made).
nsswitch.conf tells Linux's domain name resolver what methods to use for resolving domain names both within the local network (if any) and on the internet. Among the choices are DNS (best for internet domain names) and WINS (often used for Windows)
Samba: when communication with Windows is part of the picture, the configuration of Samba may be relevant.
WINS is the protocol used to convert Windows SMB names into (usually local) IP addresses