this is a quick guide to use dnsmasq's dhcp server to hand out static ip addresses based on mac or hostname.
for example if you have a laptop and you alternate between wireless and wired then you want it to get its ip based on hostname.
by default dnsmasq read /etc/dnsmasq.conf and that file overrides any command line options.
# file: /etc/dnsmasq.conf
#
# Interfaces to serve
#interface=lo
#interface=eth0
# Return this host as the MX mail handler
selfmx
localmx
#filter bogus win2k and winxp requests
filterwin2k
#dont take this one out or it will start 100 or so dnsmasqs
no-daemon
#this will make it read /etc/ethers
read-ethers
#user=root
# DHCP range to handle out with a 48 hour lease.
#dhcp-range=192.168.10.0,192.168.10.20,192.168.10.200,255.255.255.0,48h
#only give out addresses to macs or hostnames in the list
dhcp-range=192.168.10.0,static,static,255.255.255.0,48h
# dnsmasq.leases is a plain text file
dhcp-leasefile=/tmp/dnsmasq.leases
#these are set by default to the machine running dnsmasq
#dhcp-option=dns,192.168.10.1
#dhcp-option=subnet,255.255.255.0
#dhcp-option=router,192.168.10.1
domain=millernet.lnx
#
# Static DHCP hosts
#example: dhcp-host=00:03:1b:00:15:5a,netdj850,infinite
#example:dhcp-host=192.168.10.20,johnscomuter/etc/ethers is just <mac><space or tab><ip>