[Linux-wlan-ng-devel] Apropos bug #280013

[Robert Chéramy]

Hi,

first, let me say I'm very happy that linux-wlan-ng is maintained again!
Thanks a lot for this, now I can run my system with a 2.6 kernel ;-)

I submitted the bug #280013 against linux-wlan-ng wep-key generation.
The generator I submitted works with my windows XP and my D-Link DI-624
Wireless AP. I had problems with accents on Windows 2000 devices but I
made it work using only ASCII characters.

As explained in linux-wlan-ng source package (doc/config.linux-wlan-ng
line #167):
PRIV_GENERATOR=/sbin/nwepgen
        Some vendors include "WEP Key Generator" programs as part of
        their windows or AP implementations.  This is purely a
        convenience to prevent you from having to type in 40
        hexadecimal digits.  It does not contribute to the secrity of
        your system at all.  In some cases, we've included small
        programs that generate keys in a manner compatible with the
        vendor's method.  If you wish to use this capability, include
        the name of the generator program here.


I read in nwepgen.c that nwepgen is compatible with the windows based
config utility developed by Neesus Datacom, so it make sense to provide
nwepgen for Neesus Datacom users.


I think linux-wlan-ng sould provide multiple WEP key generators, so that
the user can choose the one that fits his need best. My patch in #280013
is not good for this as:
- it replaces nwepgen (and does not give an alternative to the user)
- wepgen command line is not fully compatible with nwepgen
- wepgen has no manual explaining with which system it works


I am willing to :
- modify wepgen (maybe we should choose another name?) to be compatible
with nwepgen command line
- write a man page for wepgen
- *try* to add a linux_wlan_ng_wep_generator keyword for
/etc/networks/interfaces and modify linux-wlan-ng-pre-up to use it.
- document this new keyword in README.Debian


What do you think ?


tibob