linux-wlan-ng

[Colin Watson]

On Wed, Jan 26, 2005 at 07:23:01PM -0800, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> It seems to be the case that there are still a number of cards which are
> supported by the linux-wlan-ng drivers, and not by any drivers we currently
> ship.  One example is the SMC 2632W.

I don't know about drivers; I don't own any such devices. The userspace
tools in the linux-wlan-ng package are probably easier to integrate than
the drivers, though, and I do own a device that requires the userspace
tools but is otherwise catered for by the Ubuntu kernel (thanks to the
wlan-ng-prism2-usb patch).

> Are these drivers supportable?  Should we consider integrating them?  I've
> never owned a card which required them, but I seem to recall that they used
> an incompatible set of tools for configuring wireless parameters.  Is that
> still true?

Yes. However, the scripts in the linux-wlan-ng package seem to largely
paper over the differences for simple use. I can install the
linux-wlan-ng package from universe on a Hoary live CD, add the
following to /etc/network/interfaces:

  iface wlan0 inet dhcp
          wireless_mode managed

..., run 'ifup wlan0', and it works fine.

Installer integration would take more work. Nevertheless, if it isn't
too late, I think it would be a good idea to add these to the ship and
live seeds for Hoary final.

Cheers,

-- 
Colin Watson                                       [cjwatson at ubuntu.com]