it's exactly what i expect.

$ ping localhost
PING localhost (127.0.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from localhost (127.0.0.1): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.061 ms
64 bytes from localhost (127.0.0.1): icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.041 ms

--- localhost ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 1007ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.041/0.051/0.061/0.010 ms

$ ping lapcat
PING lapcat (192.168.254.74) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from lapcat (192.168.254.74): icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.053 ms
64 bytes from lapcat (192.168.254.74): icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.038 ms

--- lapcat ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 received, 0% packet loss, time 999ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.038/0.045/0.053/0.010 ms
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i would be really annoyed if something turned my localhost into 192.168.254.74. that's just wrong.

localhost should resolve to a 127. address. but if you want to monkey around check your /etc/hosts file and give the desired IP to localhost.

# /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1       localhost
192.168.254.74 lapcat
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