comments are not processed correct in hosts file

[Manfred Schmidt]

Comments entered in the /etc/hosts file are not interpreted correct.

The following line is inserted in the /etc/hosts file:

192.168.12.13 greenhost # dcs12

entering the command "ping dcs12" on a console terminal, the comment is interpreted.

PING dcs12 (192.168.12.13) 56(84) bytes of data.

I expected all behind the "#" is comment and not interpreted.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: netplan (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-64.73-generic 4.15.18
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-64-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7.7
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue Jan 28 15:47:13 2020
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 TERM=xterm
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 PATH=(custom, no user)
SourcePackage: plan
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)