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From: chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: How do I find out my Ethernet address?
Message-ID: <24196@mimsy.umd.edu>
Date: 5 May 90 04:35:29 GMT
References: <1606@dinl.mmc.UUCP>
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Lines: 16

In article <1606@dinl.mmc.UUCP> noren@dinl.uucp (Charles Noren) writes:
>... how do I find out what my Ethernet address is?

Others have followed up with various answers, but no one has pointed
out one basic problem with the idea: there is nothing that says that
a machine *has* `an' Ethernet address.  In particular, the Sun 3/50
I am typing on at the moment has an (1) Internet address and no (0)
Ethernet addresses.  There are other Suns at the University of Maryland
that have two Ethernet addresses.  In the general case, you cannot talk
about `the' Ethernet address of any particular machine without first
deciding that the machine has exactly one Ethernet address (this does
not imply `one Ethernet interface': all Xerox D-machines have a single
Ethernet address, regardless of the number of Ethernet interfaces).
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163)
Domain:	chris@cs.umd.edu	Path:	uunet!mimsy!chris