[pkg-wpa-devel] What's wrong with the new configuration scheme, IMO

[Kel Modderman]

Joachim Breitner wrote:
> Hi,
>
> a few comments from my side.
>
> Am Mittwoch, den 19.04.2006, 23:48 +0200 schrieb Felix Homann:
>   
>> 1.1 Abuse of /etc/network/interfaces (/e/n/i)
>> ---------------------------------------------
>>
>> As I see it /e/n/i is about network interface configuration. The wpa-* stanzas 
>> are not used to configure an interface but a daemon process.
>>     
>
> I disagree: wpa settings are not much different than netmask and IP from
> a user's point of view. The fact that there is a daemon in the
> background does not matter here. dhclient runs as a daemon, too. IMHO,
> it makes perfectly sense to have these options in /e/n/i (besides the
> secrets, there must be a way to read them from a root-read-only-file).
>   

Thanks for your input Joachim. And yes there is the option to read the 
secrets from a file. (wpa-psk-file, wpa-passphrase-file).
> I agree with your other points though. My conclusion is: Mode 1 is a
> great idea with a roaming daemon or for
> one-network-and-I'm-always-in-rage setups. 

Indeed, and it is a great solution for the other half of people using a 
pci wifi card in a static location.

> The action scripts should be
> avoided in my opinion.
>   

Unless you know exactly what you are doing, I completely agree. Does 
this mean the code for supporting action scripts is bad and should be 
removed? Should we remove reference to them in the documentation? (I 
personally enjoy using the action script method).

> Let's see if the Summer of Code thing helps here.
>   

Of course it will.

Most objections have come from those expecting the new scheme to somehow 
fit in with the old daemon/init one. For better or worse, that is simply 
impossible.

 From where I stand, without the removal of the init script, most people 
would have gladly plodded on using it to do their roaming. Without 
change, there would not have been an initiative to construct a full 
featured and well documented wifiroamd, for which I humbly applaud 
Joachim for instigating.

Thanks, Kel.