[pkg-wpa-devel] Another note on wpa_gui and the new configuration scheme

[Reinhard Tartler]

On Mon, Apr 17, 2006 at 07:41:58PM +0200, Felix Homann wrote:
> > > Please, tell me how to open the NetworkConfig form in wpa_cli.
> > See the commands list_networks and get_network
> None of these commands opens a form to input any data, not even the 
> NetworkConfig form.

I was confused by the word 'form'. Of course there is no 'form' in cli
applications, those commands just output their information and thats it.

> > > Tell me how to open the scan results window, etc. etc.
> > Use the command scan_results. 
> Sure, it shows scan results. But it doesn't open the scan results window. 

Sure. It is a command line application after all!

> In wpa_cli I can't click on scan result and then enter data into the
> NetworkConfig form. When I do so in wpa_gui it pre-selects WEP when
> It's a WEP AP, it selects WPA if appropriate etc. In doing so it helps
> the user to setup his network correctly. 

> > Do you want to achieve anything in particular or do you just bitch
> > around for the sake of it? 
> [...] 
> In this thread I tried to show you what doesn't work within the new config 
> scheme even if ifplugd is not involved. 

Sorry, this is getting silly. In this thread you are basically claiming
that wpa_gui was some sort of editor for wpa_supplicant.conf, which
breaks when wpasupplicant is not started via an init script, and
therefore we must restore the init script to 'fix' wpa_gui.

Sorry, this argumentation is fundamentally flawed. You make wrong
assumtions and (therefore) wrong conclusions.

> Furthermore, I really think that wpa_gui is a very useful tool. It
> might not be very complex but it does very well what it tries to do. 

It is useful, this is out of question. It is a tool to control a running
supplicant using a graphical user interface. Nothing more.

> Especially this thread has got nothing to do with roaming. wpa_gui can
> be used to easily setup a network block in wpa_supplicant.conf. I
> wanted to point this out, that's all.

Ok. Thanks for the note. This is possible in the new setup as well, just
let 'wpa-conf' point to an more or less empty configuration file, and
add network blocks to it via wpa_gui, after ifupping the interface.
Alternatively, you can start wpa_supplicant by hand as well.

> You on the other hand seem so very proud of the work you've put into
> the new config scheme that you don't want to accept that it might not
> be an improvement for everyone.

You are right. wpa_supplicant used to be implemented as 'system
service'. This scheme makes it difficult to integrate wpasupplicant into
other parts of the distribution. We changed that to behave more like the
wireless-tools package, so that it easier to write frontends.

We already know that this breaks setups that rely on wpasupplicant as
system service, you pointed that out several times. I proposed several
times now to split a new package, which restores the behavior as system
service since some people seem to prefer this approach. Until this
happens, we have the old init script around in the examples/ directory
so that people can restore the behavior as system service.

You don't seem to have much interest in this approach but keep on
complaining about breaking older system 'without any reason'. I don't
consider reverting back to the behavior as system service as an option
at this point, and I belive Kel and Kyle agree with me. Let's look for
an other solution how to make upgrades from sarge more easy.