OLPC wireless startup at boot time

[Mikus Grinbergs]

DISCLAIMER:  I am not asking for help;  I am just sharing my thoughts.

I've been testing XO-1 with builds prior to 2010.  And what I've often
noticed, in looking first thing (after booting) at Neighborhood View:

  XO-icons appear (seen via mesh).
  Very soon, these icons disappear.

  The circular mesh-icons pulse - eventually mesh-1 is brought up
  XO-icons appear (seen via mesh).

It is as though this just-started XO-1 system was happy to receive radio
signals from other XOs -- but then was told "forget about all that" --
and had to go through a protracted "find what frequency to use"
procedure to again establish contact with other XOs on the air.

----

It seems to me -- if the just-started XO (any model) is *already*
receiving identity information off the air - why BREAK that connection ?

The just-started XO should initially set its frequency to be the same as
it was whenever that XO was last used.  If at least one *other* radio
signal is heard, it should leave that frequency connected -- and depend
on the user to intervene (through Neighborhood View) if now this XO
should instead be connected to a different station (or frequency).

[If there happens to be an user who would prefer the automatic
connection to be to the "first ever used" access point (first entry in
~/.sugar/default/nm/connections.cfg), rather than to the "last ever
used" access point -- provide a gconf flag setting that keeps the
existing connections.cfg usage (it overrides last used connectivity).]

The "automatically started by the hardware" (i.e., "first thing" I saw)
radio setup should be RESET only if it is on a different frequency than
the access point (or non-access point) the XO is expected to reconnect
to.  I believe that AVOIDING the "reset the radio, and set up the
frequency anew for the connection I am looking for" procedure will save
a lot of time in the majority of cases.

mikus