Some software (e.g., GNOME) expects the system hostname
to be resolvable to an IP address with a canonical fully qualified domain name.
This is really improper
because system hostnames and domain names are two very different things;
but there you have it.
In order to support that software,
it is necessary to ensure that the system hostname can be resolved.
Most often this is done
by putting a line in /etc/hosts
containing some IP address and the system hostname.
If your system has a permanent IP address then use that;
otherwise use the address 127.0.1.1.