usability: unplugged ethernet cable on an office desktop
Bill Nottingham
notting at redhat.com
Tue Aug 15 00:23:31 UTC 2006
Andrew Ziem (andrewz at springsrescuemission.org) said:
> 1. If the computer starts with the cable unplugged, then there's a
> start-up message like "Determining IP information for eth0:. Failed or
> link not present. Check cable?" First, some people may not read it
> because the startup messages are a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo.
> Second, some people may be getting a cup of coffee instead of watching
> the screen during (long) startup process.
Use NetworkManager.
> 2. If the ethernet doesn't work at startup, it dies forever. If I plug
> in my ethernet cable some time later after startup, nothing happens.
> Even if the user can figure out the problem, it seems the user has to
> have root privileges to do "service network restart" to get the network
> back up.
Use NetworkManager. :)
> 3. If ypbind can't connect at startup, it just dies forever. Even if
> the user can figure out the problem, it seems the user has to have root
> privileges to do "service ypbind restart".
This is best solved with proper dependency resolution in the initscripts.
> 4. If NFS mounting fails at startup, it stays unmounted until manually
> mounted. Even if the user can figure out the problem, it seems the user
> has to have root privileges to do mount the directories. Though there
> is a setting in /etc/fstab to allow users to mount directories without
> root privileges, it also allows them to unmount the directories.
Same here
> Based on these problems, here's what would reduce confusion, eliminate
> help desk calls, and make people happy:
>
> 1. If the network cable is unplugged and the system requires networking
> for authentication (NIS), then display a warning in GDM.
>
> 2. Better yet, cache authentication from ypbind. Supposedly, there are
> ways to do it, but the only way it's ever worked for me is to configure
> the system as a slave NIS server.
See pam_ccreds.
> 3. If the user is already logged in when the ethernet network goes down,
> display from the system tray using the new pop-up notification system in
> Gnome 2.14. Also, a system tray icon may be helpful if the user is away
> from his desk when the problem happens.
Use NetworkManager. (Yes, I'm a broken record here.)
Bill
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