NetworkManager and upstart.

[Jim Gasek]

I dislike complexity.   Would like to see much more
documentation too (maybe my fault).   We don't even
like the gui.  Although, more and more, we are forced 
to use it.

I understand the goals of NetworkManager (ease of use 
for laptops, non-technical users, and compatability
for "home" user's taste- wireless, dhcp, plug and
play with devices being added/removed...), but, with
these features comes complexity.   Servers generally 
don't need it.

And, I don't like that RHEL6 install script forces me to 
use it by default.

After it runs, I have a hard time "undoing" it.

/etc/init.d/network script in Fedora 11/12 (?) was still
overwriting resolv.conf after:

# chkconfig --level 2345 NetworkManager off

RHEL6 seems to as well, in some cases.

Perhaps I just need coaching on how to completely 
de-install it all.  


I also understand the goals of "upstart": More powerful
features; boolean/non-sequential branching (as opposed to 
simple/sequential).  

But, I don't need these features.   At least not yet!
Simple, sequential startup works fine for our current 
environment. 

I like to ask my system "what runlevel?", and get an 
honest answer.  Or, if "runlevel" going out the window, a
new mechanism/paradigm which is understandable, usable,
friendly, and configurable from a command line and gui.

My gut tells me "upstart" (much like in Solaris 10) is such
a huge change that it will be problematic unless improved
and simplified for future RHEL releases.  

Thanks,
Jim Gasek

--- warlord-DPNOqEs/LNQ at public.gmane.org wrote:

From: Derek Atkins <warlord-DPNOqEs/LNQ at public.gmane.org>
To: "Jim Gasek" <jim-ESJ+pY3k0/ZeoWH0uzbU5w at public.gmane.org>
Cc: <discuss-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org>
Subject: Re: Red Hat's response to my system-config-samba rhel6 issue
Date: Mon, 06 Dec 2010 11:42:15 -0500

"Jim Gasek" <jim-ESJ+pY3k0/ZeoWH0uzbU5w at public.gmane.org> writes:

> Related to the two big trends?:
> - upstart (changing of the start/stop paradigm)
> - NetworkManager (phasing out of traditional networking).
>
> I dislike both trends.

Okay, I'll bite..  What do you dislike about NetworkManager?  Except for
the fact that one first-run you need to configure it via the UI, once
it's configured you can set it up to auto-connect at boot time.  You can
still set up a static network config the way you did before, and indeed
you can specify that NM not control an interface.

> Thanks,
> Jim Gasek

-derek

-- 
       Derek Atkins, SB '93 MIT EE, SM '95 MIT Media Laboratory
       Member, MIT Student Information Processing Board  (SIPB)
       URL: http://web.mit.edu/warlord/    PP-ASEL-IA     N1NWH
       warlord-DPNOqEs/LNQ at public.gmane.org                        PGP key available