Thoughts on network management

November 03, 2010 | 1 Minute Read

Managing network is not easy from computer’s point of view. There’s little automagic to do. But most folks don’t get it and try to automate the hell out of it.
We have the Network Manager example of how NOT to do a network manager. It fucks up what you do in console, does a lot of stuff without even telling you wtf is it doing. Otoh it has good support for 3g dongles and has a neat interface in gnome.

So what should a network manager do?
* Connecting to wireless
* Connecting to 3g
* Connecting to Vpn
* Sharing connection(ethernet, wireless)
* Setting up a quick local network (gaming, lan parties)
* Choosing default route
* Choosing global dns
* Notify about network changes (disconnected, connected from console and so on)
* Wireless link in gui

So if you’re wondering, they’re all features i plan for netcfgfx, and this network manager won’t be archlinux only. Stay tuned