Oh, Ubuntu!!

Ever had one of those days?
Suddenly, normal users on my trusty Ubuntu 9.10 box can't resolve local network machines. Root can, but normal users don't seem to be able to resolve anything in the /etc/hosts file.

Having a quick look around reveals that the access permissions of /etc/nsswitch.conf have been changed to 600. Well, I didn't do that. It can only have been the update I set off just now.
- Why did they do that? What possible reason could there be for an update script to do that?

Sheesh. What a waste of a lunchtime.