Alternative to Create a new wireless network

[Simon Schampijer]

On 04/23/2010 03:18 AM, James Cameron wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 05:17:17PM +0200, Simon Schampijer wrote:
>> based on the discussion in this thread I have created a first patch
>> attached to ticket #9845 [1] implementing the three default ad hoc
>> networks for channel 1, 6 and 11.
>
> Merged with my other wireless changes and tested on XO-1.5.  Clicking on
> one of the new icons doesn't seem to create an ad-hoc network.  I didn't
> look into why yet.  Maybe something in what I've changed.

You will need this fix to the NM to make it work [1]. If we do not get 
new NM rpms soon I can upload the patched rpms.

[1] 
http://cgit.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/commit/?h=NETWORKMANAGER_0_7

>> * Do we agree to have three icons, one for each available channel?
>
> Yes, three, one for each of the three well separated channels one, six
> and eleven.  The icons should look different to each other in some way
> so that they can be chosen by voice among the users.

Currently they are not. As seen in [2]. I hope the designers can come up 
with something smart.

[2] http://dev.laptop.org/attachment/ticket/9845/adhoc_default_networks.png

> My preference is a distinctive colour and brightness set with large
> localised numerals over the icon.  The icons should look the same on all
> laptops, and should not look at all like the XO-1 mesh icons.

I would not go into the business to localize the icons. An icon with a 
clear symbol on it would be sufficient. The user does not care if that 
means a channel number or not. In general, if the code should go into 
0.84 we should make sure it is as less invasive as possible.

>> * Naming: do we agree to name the networks 'Mesh Network [channel name]'
>> even though they are no mesh networks but in order to keep 'backwards
>> compatibility'?
>
> No.  I'd prefer we lose the word Mesh for these icons.  I suggest the
> word "Our" or "My" instead of "Mesh".

Fine with me. As others have raised this interest before. 'Our' sounds 
quite good to me. How about 'local'?

>> * I do not save the connection to the nm-config file and don't mark them
>> to autoconnect, so we do not autoconnect when starting Sugar. I think,
>> as an ad-hoc network is not a persistent configuration this makes sense.
>
> Yes, certainly.

Great.

>> * Should we add an icon for 'mesh-network-connected' to better represent
>> the mesh network we are currently connected to?
>
> I don't understand this question, sorry.  Oh, maybe you mean that the
> icons should indicate connection status.  Yes!  In the same way that
> access point icons are changed; parentheses either side.

Right, that was the idea.

>> * Connection sharing: So far the connections created are 'link-local'
>> connections. What is the plan for sharing an internet connection over an
>> adhoc network? As the XO has only one network device, i guess this is
>> not a common scenario.
>
> No opinion.
>
>> * Remove the 'Create Network' ability of the wireless frame device
>> palette: As we have the default ad-hoc networks we may not need the
>> ability to create adhoc networks anymore. It may be more confusing then
>> of any help, what do others think?
>
> Yes, remove it.

I will ask Tomeu as he was the original coder of the Feature if we will 
make the changes upstream, too.

Thanks,
    Simon