I had this problem myself and I also knew this workaround. I even had the problem that at some point I couldn't start any application. I know that it is at least related to this bug.
So Conn, if you run ping $(hostname) with the "failing" settings, what does it give you? -- [feisty] Slow gnome application startup due to /etc/hosts misconfiguration https://launchpad.net/bugs/94048 -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs
