# Using a Hosts File To Make The Internet Not Suck (as much)

<https://someonewhocares.org/hosts/>

- Host: [someonewhocares.org](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/someonewhocares.org/)
- Saved: March 28, 2023 (2023-03-28T22:30:53Z)
- Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/8fe44c7003b2/
- JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/8fe44c7003b2.json

## What Jamie wrote

I was a bit surprised when I saw this because it seems like the kind of thing I would have found years ago. Unix machines have a special file called `/etc/hosts` and you can override DNS resolution with it. This file overrides **thousands** of hostnames for tracking services to not resolve right. This blocks you from being exposed to them. 

The downside of doing this at the DNS level is it is very difficult to know when it is causing problems. I’m using Little Snitch Mini to do the same thing, and am happy to pay a few bucks to have a nice UI and be able to see what it is doing as it filters Internet traffic.

## Facts

- Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/)

## Appears in

- [WT248: Weekly Thing #248 / Bicycle, Attention, Shapella](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/248/), Notable

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## Elsewhere

- Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://someonewhocares.org/hosts/