NetworkManager: I want to believe, but... [was Re: F9 potential service network bug?]

[Bastien Nocera]

On Sat, 2008-05-17 at 07:28 -0400, Matthew Miller wrote:
> On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 02:27:00PM -0800, Jeff Spaleta wrote:
> > NM doesn't handle all usage cases yet, which is why the legacy network
> > stack is still available for people who need it.
> 
> So, the FeatureMoreNetworkManager wiki page says that NetworkManager is
> supposed to have new "Chuck Norris" features like supporting static IP
> addresses. It didn't work for me on a fresh F9 install, which then was a
> headache etc etc. (Even sytem-config-network had the right info, yet
> interface kept coming up dhcp.) So, as the Feature page says, it sure would
> be an advantage if it worked.
> 
> Except, uh, what advantage does this bring me once it's set up? Why have a
> daemon and applet and dbus infrastructure monitoring something which by
> definition *is not going to change*?
> 
> I'm not trying to troll -- I just don't get it. It seems like there's
> nothing in the "plus" column here. What am I missing?

The pluses are that:
- it should be able to boot up faster (note the should)
- it informs applications that you're connected to the network (say, you
unplug the network, the router dies, or the driver for your network card
drops you off the network)
- and finally, it will allow routing over multiple connections in the
future (so static wired, and wireless routed over the wired, or all the
wired routed over a WWAN in case your internet connection breaks).