Originally Posted by
josephstern
Hosts is also integral still on MacOS and on Linux. It works with DNS - DNS doesn't really replace it. At this point, it's almost like an override file. It's an earlier stop for domain name resolution.
Yes, it's part of most operating systems but dates from the days before DNS existed, when the host file would contain domain names and addresses for *all* the computers connected to the internet. The host file provides static DNS resolution without a DNS server.