HB

The Host Blocker command.

This is a system utility written in C that allows one to quickly black hole hosts in the /etc/hosts file, keeping one from resolving any DNS for those hosts and permanently blocking them on the system.

How it Works

The program "blackholes" hosts by setting their entries in /etc/hosts to be 0.0.0.0 so that when one tries to resolve the host in the browser the host will resolve to 0.0.0.0.

The program will wake up in a configurable timeframe continuously, reading a config file into memory and making appropriate changes to the /etc/hosts based on what it reads from the config.

Starting the program like this allows for the program to run as a daemon:

sudo hb -period <wakeup period> -config <path/to/config> -daemon

The config file at the moment is just a newline separated list of hosts that will be added to the /etc/hosts file.

Motivations

I would like to get better with C, and will be using C much more in the near future. In addition, I have issues with browsing to sites that hurt my productivity and am always on the command line.

TODO

• Debug logging
• Systemd unit file for running as a daemon