communication among heterogeneous software versions

[Mikus Grinbergs]

On a setup with three XOs connected via ethernet (they are all 
seeing each other), entered 'olpc-xos -mac'.  Saw the following:

| bash-3.2# olpc-xos -mac
| 8791683a at linux  laptop3
| 04d57d95 at linux  laptop2
| 00:17:C4:10:DC:04  laptop1
| bash-3.2#

My interpretation of this is that what was shown for XOs 'laptop3' / 
'laptop2' (running Joyride 2608) was a software identifier they had 
broadcast -- whereas what was shown for XO 'laptop1' (running 8.2) 
was a hardware identifier it had broadcast.

It's good that these heterogeneous-software-version XOs were able to 
see each other's "presence".  But being shown two different kinds of 
information in the output illustrated a potential exposure --

     What if the systems at a given site do *not* all contain the
     same software version (e.g., from 2008 vs 2009).  Will all those
     systems be able to correctly collaborate among themselves ?

     If not, do deployments need to be cautioned ?

mikus