Intrepid->DSL Configuration

[Tobias Kreisel]

Dear Ubuntu documentation team,

after installing 8.10 on a friend's laptop she came back to me,
telling me that she was unable to connect to the internet (she's
directly connected via a DSL modem). She did open up the
NetworkManager from the tray but got confused by all the different
options there. Next she browsed Ubuntu's built-in help and found
exactly what she was looking for: a description explaining how to
connect to the internet via a DSL modem. Instead of describung how to
achieve a connectionl via NetworkManger, this document explains the
"shell way" to do this, i.e. it tells you to type in pppoeconf on a
terminal and go from there.

In most cases this might work (it did not for my friend, I suppose she
got the username wrong). This solution, however, is doing more harm
than good. For one it is not the most familiar way to achieve
something if you're an unexperienced user (i.e. if your not using the
shell on a daily basis). What is even worse is that it seems to
completely disable NetworkManager's functionality. It took me a few
minutes to figure out what is preventing NM to show up in the tray,
only to find that pppoeconf is directly editing
/etc/network/interfaces and thereby disabling NM for it "sees" that
the device is somehow configured and will not touch it.

I'm not sure if this behaviour is intended since even if there is a
configuration present for one network device, NM should be able to
manage the other devices (in this case the wired interface was
configured via pppoeconf and the wireless device was unconfigured). In
any case the documentation needs updating on this matter; at least a
warning that using pppoeconf could interfere with NM, at best a
re-write that is detailing how to configure a DSL modem connection via
NM rather than pppoeconf (which worked perfectly for me after undoing
pppoeconf's editing).

My time is limited, but if you provide me with a quick introduction I
might find the time to write the update myself.

Enough of this small blunder: Keep up the great work! Ubuntu is my
preferred Linux flavour. I'm using it in different environments,
professional and non-professional, and it works great for me. However,
recommending it to several of my friends makes me aware that often
tiny problems like the one above prevent it from being just another
bit more user-friendly. Therefore I hope this little comment will help
to get one step further in that direction.

With kind regards,
Tobias