VSIDO-64-06JUL2015

[zephyr]

@VSIDO@VastOne:  Installed to metal, no issues what so ever, other than wicd. Ceni is doing it's job and got internet. Everything looks great, works great as advertised. Job well done, persistence and determination. Thank you-zephyr

[VastOne]

Thank you zephyr, this info is really appreciated!

The next decision will be whether or not wicd is even needed anymore... I do not have a wifi setup, so I cannot always be the judge of how good ceni is on finding the wifi all the time.

That was always the reason for wicd, a simple gui to find wifi

[PackRat]

I'm actually experimenting with this right now since I have a laptop and dsktop computer.

Ceni is good at finding wifi - and since it is only a script to write to the /etc/network/interfaces file, it does not have a memory footprint like wicd. The main benefit of wicd is managing multiple wireless networks (i.e. home and college campus) accessed on a regular basis; or roaming. Ceni handles roaming pretty well, just rewrites the interfaces file.

I think the real issue going forward will be how integrated network management becomes with systemd. The wpa_supplicant.conf currently needed by systemd-networkd file can be set up for multiple networks - I think the wireless connection defaults to the one with the strongest signal, but actual roaming (hotel, coffee shop, etc ..) would be kind of a pain. The /etc/network/interfaces file and wicd files are not used by systemd-networkd, so ceni and wicd are incompatible. As it stands now, one would have to write a new wireless rule(s) for systemd, or stop the systemd-networkd services and use ceni or wicd for actual roaming.

Kind of long winded, but for now, I would say wicd is still needed for those with laptops and netbooks - particularly students and professionals that travel - as it is the still the easiest to deal with.

Again, it will be interesting to see how much networking is taken over by systemd - it's actually a bit of a step backwards because the user is now back to configuring the network manually which requires knowing how to write a systemd rule.

[Snap]

Great insight, PackRat. Great info.

I don't have a laptop or wifi, so never used wicd, but it's gret to be aware of all this stuff anyway.

[PackRat]

One downside to using Ceni for managing wireless is that you have to always enter the passphrase when reconfiguring the network (although, I think the ncurses interfaces allows for pasting it in). If you're in a position where you have to do that 3-4 a day as you move around it would get real old real fast.

In a nutshell -

Stationary - ceni is awesome and uses less memeory
Mobile - wicd is most convenient to manage multiple networks.

systemd-networkd is optional at this point; works well and the services have a low memory footprint. Requires some creation of configuration files for the systemd services. The Arch wiki has the usual nice examples to get it up an running for wired, wireless, and mixed. Follow the links in the systemd-networkd wiki page to the wpa_supplicant pages. Apparently has limits and not recommended for complex networks according to some Slackware users that are checking out systemd.

[VastOne]

^ Thanks for that insight and testing, well done RatMan

Both wicd and ceni will stay

I could also add a button and command on the new startup script to run wicd as well

[PackRat]

I also just found out about a small qt-based gui that works with wpa_supplicant. It's called wpagui (may or may not be installed by default with wpa_supplicant).

As root - or gksudo:

Code Select Expand

/usr/sbin/wpa_gui

brings up a small gui that allows for selecting and scanning of wireless networks. Lists networks that are managed by the users /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf file. Sits in the system tray when finished.

Interesting tool; may have to play with it a bit.

[Snap]

I could also add a button and command on the new startup script to run wicd as well

Sounds good to me.

@PackRat: That's interesting. Please, report back. I cannot check wireless, but always interested.