[pkg-fso-maint] Bug#520902: wicd: breaks non-wireless configured interfaces when installed

[David Paleino]

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:25:20 +0100, Luca Capello wrote:

> Ciao Davide!

David, grazie :P

> Please keep the pkg-fso-maint@ mailing list cc:ed, TIA.

Uh, IIRC it wasn't in the CC loop before, sorry.

> On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:57:20 +0100, David Paleino wrote:
> > On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:37:36 +0100, Luca Capello wrote:
> >> wicd has been choosen to be the default WiFi manager on Debian on the
> >> Openmoko FreeRunner.  Since I am working to solve bug #520014 [1], I
> >> tried to install it without fulfilling its dependencies and I got an
> >> IMHO completely unrelated error.
> >> 
> >> [1] http://bugs.debian.org/520014
> >
> > Yes, I'm aware of that bug, and am going to reply to it right after this
> > mail. :)
> 
> FWIW, I am already working on it, but since you mentioned wicd 1.6, I
> will check to see if there is progress WRT udhcpc before going on with
> my work.

Were you working on 1.5.9?

> [..]
> >> debian-gta02:~# dpkg --force-all
> >> -i /var/cache/apt/archives/wicd_1.5.9-5_all.deb
> >
> > Next time please try not to wrap lines ;)
> > However, this seems related to #520014. I'll reply to the proper
> > report.
> 
> This is not a bug at all, since I need --force-all to override wicd
> dependencies.

Well, you misunderstood me. I mean that you needed to --force-all just because
udhcpc wasn't in Depends. I know what you used --force-all for :P

> >> Indeed, the /etc/network/interfaces for my FR contains more than that:
> >
> > On a side note: is that managed by anything FR-specific?
> 
> No, it is like this because you want the USB networking to be always on,
> thus you can *always* SSH into the FR as soon as you plug in the USB
> cable (and, obviously, your laptop/desktop is properly configured).

Understood.

> Actually, IIRC the FreeSmartphone.Org framework daemon (in short,
> fso-frameworkd) provides a way to switch the USB mode from network to
> USB mass storage device, but I have never used that.

Ok.

> >> =====
> >> # /etc/network/interfaces -- configuration file for ifup(8), ifdown(8)
> >> [..]
> >> 
> >> # Ethernet/RNDIS gadget (g_ether)
> >> # ... or on host side, usbnet and random hwaddr
> >> allow-hotplug usb0
> >> iface usb0 inet static
> >
> > I have a similar interface (eth0, static IP, [..]) on my laptop, and wicd
> > works fine with that. I'll continue reading :)
> 
> We are talking about wicd *installation* time, not runtime.  Once wicd
> is installed, everything works fine.  I have never tried on my laptop,
> but I will bet the error would be the same, again when *installing* wicd.

Yes, sorry for not being clearer before.

> >> The correct behavior should be to check each interface status and act
> >> accordingly.  This however *only* for the interfaces the admin wants to be
> >> managed by wicd: in my case, it is clear that usb0 does not belong to this
> >> group (and IIRC network-manager would skip it).
> >
> > Why should it skip it? Because it is declared as "static" in interfaces(5)?
> > As already said, I have a static eth0 configured there, and wicd works fine
> > with it. I don't think it should skip those, and if it would, the host
> > could then have multiple connections active? (i.e. the static skipped ones
> > and the wicd-managed one) -- wicd doesn't currently support that, and if
> > needed, I'll talk with upstream for its implementation.
> 
> Let me clear here: all these network/connetion managers (thus
> network-manager, wicd, etc.) should do only what I ask them to do.

Sure.

> If I want one interface to be managed by them, well, the solution
> network-manager adopted seems to be the best one: the interface should
> be listed as "auto" in /etc/network/interfaces or not listed at all.
> According to /usr/share/doc/wicd/README.Debian, I thought wicd behaves
> the same, which is not the case.
> 
> This is another bug, which however comes before the one in the subject:
> if wicd just skips everything I manually configured, then I would not
> have experienced the bug in the subject.

Well, I believe that totally dropping this behaviour is wrong. I *do* want also
my static wired interface to be shown, so as I can ifup/ifdown it from the same
GUI as other wireless networks.
However, I think that an option providing this feature could be provided. I
mean, auto-skip those (as to be compatible towards NM), and provide an option
to show them as well.

If you happen to be IRCing right now, we could have a chat about the bugs you
filed. You can find me both on OFTC/Freenode (hanska).

Ciao,
David

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