network vs NetworkManger services ?? [SOLVED -- for now]

[William Case]

Hi Aaron et al;

This is my last post (for a while) on this subject.  Actually the
answers are quite simple.  Just after spending $45 for "Understanding
Linux Network Internals" (but not yet delivered) it came to me what
everyone was saying.

Below I have tried out my own explanation.  No response is required
other than to add to the conversation if you want.  I am going to spend
a week or so diving into the whole network question.  When I come up for
air I might have a question or two.

By the way, there is one thing I do NOT have an answer to.  Several
people, Jeff in particular, have made reference to the info, settings
etc. that are in gconf.  I have searched /etc/gconf, ~/.gconf and
gconf-editor and can find no network or NetworkManager data or keys
whatsoever.  If I am looking in the wrong place or for the wrong info,
please tell me.  If it should be there, please point to name or tree so
I can find it.  Help me fix it if I reply (in a new thread) that I
definitely do NOT have such data. 

On Sun, 2008-08-17 at 08:46 -0500, Aaron Konstam wrote:
> On Sat, 2008-08-16 at 23:35 -0400, William Case wrote: 
> > On Sat, 2008-08-16 at 18:28 -0500, Aaron Konstam wrote:
> > > On Sat, 2008-08-16 at 18:11 -0400, William Case wrote: 
[snip]
> 
> This is a hard question to answer. network uses the ifcfg-x files
> in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/.
> NM spreads the information over a collection of programs. wpa-client,
> dns, dhclient,nm-applet and their associated config files which are
> automatically created.
> 
> Truthfully, I am not sure where all the configurations are stored
> however in trying to answer one of your previous questions (I don't
> blame you). I wish I knew how I did it. One problem is I knew where
> these were in previous versions of Fedora but I can't find it in F9.
> 
> I am not sure that the other responses to your question on the list make
> it any clearer.
> 
> For definitive information sign up for networkmanager-list at gnome.org

I am going to sign up today.

What I have discovered -- I think:

There are two entities -- init.d scripts; one called 'network' and one
called 'NetworkManager'.  (entities might equal objects, but never
having done C++ or other OOp, I hesitate to use technical terms.)

The 'network' script references the
various /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts to get all its parts and pieces
running during initialization.

The 'NetworkManager' script references /etc/sysconfig/networking
which in turn has subdirectories ./devices and ./profiles.  ./devices
has a copy of 'ifcfg-eth0'; ./profiles/default has copies of 'hosts'
'ifcfg-eth0' and 'resolv.conf'.

Obviously, there is room to dig a lot deeper into the kernel and the
various scripts.

Some concerns I have are:

      * Not nearly enough clear and detailed manuals, help text and
        tutorials; particularly for NetworkManager.
      * Too much overlap in the names used for various things; too much
        reliance on the use of words that have a common generic meaning
        as well as a computer specific meaning.
      * The copying of certain files to a new directory.  That strikes
        me as a bit of an unreliable hack. Links at least would have
        been explanatory if the scripts used were exactly the same and
        would remain identical, a new name would be preferable if they
        weren't. I currently have two or three copies of most networking
        files or scripts.
      * It would be nice to be able to see the kernel contents of both
        (and/or other) network managers in a cat /sys/... virtual file
        system.
      * Each network management system should be completely shielded
        from each other so that there are various options and choices of
        which system to use and how.  It doesn't have to be one or the
        other.
      * The use of the NetworkManager gui is unclear.  As simple as it
        seems to an experienced user, for new users, every data entry
        field should be clearly and exactly explained.  If you are a
        beginner, networking contains many difficult concepts to grasp.

That's where I now stand on this subject.  I intend to find out a lot
more.  Thanks to everyone for their patience and help over the last week
or so. 

-- 
Regards Bill;
Fedora 9, Gnome 2.22.3
Evo.2.22.3.1, Emacs 22.2.1