* Martin Pitt <mp...@debian.org> [150509 05:27]: > TBH, hotpluggable USB network adapters which change all the time sound > like a corner case in a server world where you have hand-written > config files referring to interface names. They are of course common > on the client side, but there stable interface names don't matter at > all. But see below.
I disagree that stable interface names do not matter for USB adaptors for consumer laptops. I have owned two laptops where the on-board WiFi adaptor was too new to have reliable Linux drivers until 6-12 months after I purchased them. While waiting for the Linux drivers, I used a USB WiFi dongle that has good kernel support. I have plugged the adaptor into different USB ports based on where my laptop was situated wrt varied surroundings. I suspect (with no real data to back it up) that the biggest use of USB WiFi dongles on consumer machines is when the on-board WiFi doesn't work for some reason (too new or broken). In this case, it is often the main internet connection and a stable name is important. To address the statement about swapping a new adaptor for a broken adaptor (in server or client desktop), this happens so rarely and already requires a significant effort (opening the machine, etc.) that editing the udev persistent network rules is not an issue. This does not make MAC-based names less usable in that context. I'm not sure what the correct solution is, but from what I have seen in this thread, I have become convinced that [ifnames] is not it. (That is a change from my initial perception.) I would like to discourage the proposed change. Perhaps some compromise where ifnames is used for PCI-based devices and MAC is used for USB devices might work; I'm not sure. I have no problem with learning a new naming convention for the devices. Note that the naming convention makes no difference for programmatic use; any programmatic use should query the specific properties of the device that are important to the program. The naming convention is only relevant to the sysadmin, where it helps to identify properties in which the sysadmin might be interested (e.g. wired vs wireless). ...Marvin -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-devel-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: https://lists.debian.org/20150509203542.ga18...@basil.wdw
