[COLUG] Lan hostname to IP resolution

[david riggs]

 I  have several Linux machines plugged in, or wirelessed into, my 
Verizon ADSL router.


I just want to be able to from one machine  issue e.g.

"scp -pr project1 my-etch1:"

in order to make a quickie copy of one folder into my home folder on the 
other machine (hostname of "my-etch1") rather than find out and type in 
the full IP each time.


The ip address (192.168.1.X) varies from time to time as the links come 
up and down, so I cannot just put something like "192.168.1.68  
my-etch1" into /etc/hosts.
 
What is the best (or easiest?) way to set up so that the system can 
figure out for itself the IP address for each machine (as it changes 
over the days).

Thanks,

David Riggs
Oberlin

(running Debian Sarge, Etch, Ubuntu 7.11 on PC's and Xubuntu D-Drake on 
iBook)