I used one of the popular hosts files on my local machine for a while: the networking didn’t seem to suffer, but the boot time for my machine slowed noticeably. And manual updates were painful because loading the file in an editor is slow so if you use your hosts file for other reasons it can inhibit your workflow. I would recommend automated process on some dedicated device so you don’t impact your normal usage.
Another experience I had was that certain sites failed to work correctly. I didn’t do extensive testing but when I disabled the hosts nocking the sites worked, when I enabled it they broke. These were companies with whom I was trying to do account related business: so it wasn’t just that something didn’t render correctly it actively prevented me from updating my accounts when I tried to submit requests.
I still like the approach and will continue to use it, but it hasn’t been frictionless.
Another experience I had was that certain sites failed to work correctly. I didn’t do extensive testing but when I disabled the hosts nocking the sites worked, when I enabled it they broke. These were companies with whom I was trying to do account related business: so it wasn’t just that something didn’t render correctly it actively prevented me from updating my accounts when I tried to submit requests.
I still like the approach and will continue to use it, but it hasn’t been frictionless.