Comment 32 for bug 628087

> Now to the fact that there is no way to change the name of the machine.
> If that is a use-case we need to support, let's design and make the best
> way to do that.
>
this is only needed indeed if all computers you install in a network end
up with the same name assigned automatically.
if there is a way of distinctively being able to point to a machine by
name (and if the user *knows* this name) we do not need any UI to change
it imho (we didn't need it in the past, why should we now).

the important fact i tried to point out above with my avahi comment is
that we provide many applications that are network accessible by
computer name through their <name>.local address, it is a feature we
promote and which is documented in plenty of places.
on an enduser level rhythmbox shares its music based on that, ubuntuone
uses the name to identify machines for file sharing to just name two of
many examples ... on a developer level people use the avahi protocol for
logging in to the machines through ssh

... with the currently existing solution we:

a) set the names of all machines in a network if installed by the same
user to the exact same value

... and what is way worse ...

b) we do not tell the user the name of the machine at all at any point
of the installation

if we keep the existing behavior we need a way for the user to change
names to make sure she can set the name to something unique in the
network after installation

if we change behavior to use something generated based on MAC adress or
some such we need to at least *tell* the user what the name of the
machine is so it is possible identify the computer in the network after
install.