On Wed, 7 Dec 2016 18:19:46 +0000
KatolaZ <katolaz@???> wrote:

> On Wed, Dec 07, 2016 at 12:23:06PM -0500, Steve Litt wrote:
>
> [cut]
>
> >
> > * Because most wifi software sucks, I suggest Devuan roll its own
> > CLI software, for the installation, that iwlist wlan0 scanning
> > lists the access points, takes the ssid and password, and then
> > appends the result of wpa_passphrase to the bottom
> > of /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf. In my experience this
> > is the most reliable way to get wifi running for a given access
> > point.
>
> That's a very good point, but unfortunately it is not as
> straightforward to implement as it sounds, since when it comes to wifi
> networks there are more exceptions than rules.
>
> Just to make the point: you are assuming above that the wifi network
> you want to connect to uses WPA :) And what if it doesn't?

key_mgmt=NONE

> What if it
> uses the old WEP?

I don't know: More later in this email...

> What if is is open and uses no encryption at all?

key_mgmt=NONE

> What if the WPA authentication protocol requires a certificate (like
> in the case of most corporate networks)? I could make two dozens more
> examples of exceptions to "iwlist scan | grep ESSID >
> networks.txt"....
>
> I don't want to say that it is impossible to put together a working
> script which manages wifi connections. It's certainly doable. Only,
> the experience of the last 10 years has suggested that when you try to
> do that you systematically end up with something like wicd or conman
> (and I don't dare to mention THE-THING here), which are pretty bulky
> pieces of software, not "just a script". And it is mostly due to the
> necessity to handle more corner cases than general rules.

OK. Fair enough.

Perhaps do a script for the common cases, and if that fails, tell the
user:

Failed to get a network. Would you like to try using conman and wicd?
Y/N=>

The most common cases involve WPA2 or (especially at hotels) wide open.
Those are easily accommodated at the script level. If anybody's using
WEP anymore, they deserve to be diverted to wicd.

The certificates thing is a legitimate case. I don't know anything
about how to handle certificates, so I'd need somebody else to speak
for whether this can be easily handled at the script level.

Look at it this way: We capture a heck of a lot of information with
iwlist wlo1 scanning. SSID, signal strength, encryption method, whether
there's encryption, and who knows, perhaps stuff about a certificate.
So we give the user a choice of SSIDs, and when they pick one, we know
exactly what further information to acquire from the user. Then we try,
and if we fail, we kick them over to conman or wicd to try again.

There's a lot in play here. The wifi interface needs to be up, linked
to an SSID, and have an IP address. I'm not sure what order these need
to be done, which makes everything harder to script. If anybody can
provide a detailed description of the exact process of bringing up a
wifi network interface, that would be very helpful.


Thanks,

SteveT

Steve Litt
November 2016 featured book: Quit Joblessness: Start Your Own Business
http://www.troubleshooters.com/startbiz