On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 07:44:22PM +0100, Csaba Henk <[email protected]> wrote:
> Wrong! She will see that no network is connected to and the original
> wpa_supplicant.conf file -- including only the network which has been
> specified at install time -- has been restored. WTF, she can yell at this
> point...
> 
> If she had read the fine manual, she could see that if she needs a
> permanent /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file with multiple networks then
> she should abandon the wpa_psk directive and insert the appropriate
> pre_up/post_down directives. So there is a solution for her problem.
> Still it's contraintuitive. This scheme is a POLS violation 
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_astonishment).
> 
> I can imagine two ways to get over this.
> 
> One is simply using temporary files instead of /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
> for invoking wpa_supplicant, so noone shall think that there is a
> /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf which is permanent and editable. A variant of
> this is adding '# WARNING! Machine generated file, do not edit" comments
> to the wpa_supplicant config file.
> 
> Other is what implemented in the patch, ie. using a permanent,
> user-modifiable /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file. There is a fine summary
> in the commit message. Backward compatibility is dealt with. Is this
> feasible?

Hm. Adding such a warning is a good idea, though I would add a reference
as well, like:

'# WARNING! Machine generated file, do not edit; edit
/etc/sysconfig/network/foo instead' - where foo would be replaced by the
current network profile.

Netconfig currently provides a way to have all your network passwords in
one directory (ie WPA and WEP ones), and your patch breaks this.
However, I think there is nothing wrong with having an option not to
update /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf, for those who know what they are doing.
This is already possible with using the example you touched in your
patch. As the note says in the manpage, the builtin example just
provides a builtin way for most users, if you want something special,
then use the example.

(A great feature of netconfig is that in fact the only hardwired feature
is the ifconfig up/ifconfig down part, everything else can be disabled
and replaced by your own hooks in case you don't like the builtin
iwconfig/dhcp/wpa features.)

So, would it be OK for you to just add the above warning, and use the
provided example in case you or somebody else really wants to manage
her wpa passwords in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf?

Ah and a minor nit, you can use git format-patch as described here:

http://frugalware.org/docs/getting-involved#_downloading_and_setting_up_the_repositories

which just makes our life easier.

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