"Am I the only one..." No. But the solution is not to complain, but to use /etc/hosts, run your own root and your own cache. Any software that overrides /etc

"Am I the only one..." No. But the solution is not to complain, but to use /etc/hosts, run your own root and your own cache. Any software that overrides /etc/hosts is not worth using, in my opinion. There are no "underlying technical reasons" for not letting the user control their own name resolution that benefit the user. Of course, there could be reasons that benefit someone else.