pg_hba.conf

I have been using postgres for about 4 months now, and I have to admit
it is an awesome product , congrats to you all people but I do have a
lingering question

<pest mode>
in pg_hba.conf when my netmask is 255.255.255.0 like below the authentication
mechanism works fine

host databank x.y.z.12 255.255.255.0 ident sameuser

but if I change my netmask to 255.255.255.255 like below it does not work
any more. Am I doing something wrong or did I not understand thing correctly ?
I think it would be better security-wise to have 255.255.255.255 netmasks for
individual hosts.
host databank x.y.z.12 255.255.255.255 ident sameuser
</pest mode>

BTW I am working in Greece and postgres with the Greek locale on BSDI3.1 works
fabulously ! Again congrats to the people who plugged in the locale code.

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