Not every host lets you SSH into it to run commands. The mDNS hostname is not always the same as your system hostname since it can change due to conflicts. Some Linux distros don't even have a built-in util to show your own mDNS name.

> Not every host lets you SSH into it to run commands.

Not sure how this is relevant. The context we're talking about here is someone wanting to communicate to another person how to connect to their laptop. We can assume that this person has sufficient access to the device to get this information.

You're not trying to work backwards from an unknown device here, if you're doing that you presumably have the ability to copy/paste the full address from whatever tool you used to identify the device's existence on the network.

> The mDNS hostname is not always the same as your system hostname since it can change due to conflicts.

And it changes in predictable ways, with the mainstream desktop OSes presenting a notification to the user in case of conflicts. If yours doesn't, consider that a flaw in your OS.

Also, if this is a real issue you run in to more than once in a blue moon it's probably worth picking a more unique name.

> Some Linux distros don't even have a built-in util to show your own mDNS name.

systemctl status avahi-daemon

should do the trick on any mainstream Linux distro, and if you're one of the anti-systemd crowd you presumably know your equivalent.