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  • From: Juuso Alasuutari <iuso AT sourcemage.org>
  • To: sm-discuss AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [SM-Discuss] deprecate network module load/unload?
  • Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 18:52:35 +0300

I suggest we remove the netconf feature to load/unload module on link
up/down.
Here are some reasons:

- MODULE setting in netconf is misleading. One gets the impression that if
you
have the driver compiled as module, you have to select the module option, and
that you can't select the static option. This is not true, because the module
option is only used to load/unload the module. If you wish the module to not
be loaded/unloaded, you have to select the static option, which isn't very
intuitive.
This alone is enough reason to at least rearrange the whole section, which
would of course result in the menu being more complicated than it presently
is. Just removing it completely would be very elegant in this sense. :)

- ifplugd can't monitor the interface without a loaded driver. When it
detects
link down, it executes ifdown. If ifdown unloads the module, ifplugd can't
function from that point on. This makes the MODULE setting (and its
obscurity) especially relevant for many users.

- ifplugd will be included as a netconf option in the future. I think readers
can put two and two together and see how having the load/unload option will
complicate things in terms of presenting valid options in netconf. It's a
small jungle of conditionals out there.

- For some, the load/unload feature isn't always working. (Well, to be honest
I'm only referring to what ruskie said on #sourcemage once. Maybe he can give
more info.)

There is one reason I can think of to defend the existence of the MODULE
option: no resources are reserved by unused network drivers. It helps keep
the system as lean as possible.

OTOH network drivers aren't generally much of a burden, and as Source Mage is
highly dependent on a working connection anyway, there shouldn't
theoretically be many moments when they're completely meaningless. Most
distros simply load the drivers and leave them be, and I don't think we gain
much from doing things differently in this case.

Juuso




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