I don't have to deal with it myself, thankfully. I have a wired connection for my desk and just do without otherwise. The problem is going to be for potential Linux users at LSU.
I pointed this problem out to Sean Robbins, the man in charge of LSU's networks, and got a sympathetic but answerless response. He's being pushed from above by audits. Cisco switched hubs and encrypted wireless are his answer to CAELA and liability concerns. As you might expect, he's understaffed and needs help. The pain of a M$ only solution that will break older lab equipment is on his mind. He thinks that M$ only owns about 80% of the campus population (how's that for good news?). I imagine he does not want to be the next Perter Quinn. Let me know what your friend is up to. Hopefully, there are some nice, quiet technical solutions. The whole thing reminds me of the Winmodem fiasco, which was very good at keeping people away from free software. The political part of the battle has been pushed very far into negative territory by the bad guys. The usefulness of encrypting the last 100 feet of network is laughable in the larger battle for user privacy, but that's what is being pushed for. The first people I talked with tried to scare me about email and web browsing privacy, as if that was something that existed and as if the worst threat were lurking in the bushes of the quad. The propaganda turns trust relations upside down, having you trust big dumb companies and fear your neighbors. The irony is that the solution offered pushes people further onto the least secure platform in an environment where alternatives are making concrete and important gains. On Wednesday 31 January 2007 23:52, Shannon Roddy wrote: > ... > > Ah yes... LSU's battles with wireless. I am glad I don't have to deal > with it much, maybe a couple times a year now. Unfortunately I can't > offer any specific advice, but I can say that LSU's wireless problems > have actually caused some problems for my $employer, believe it or > not. Long story. Anyway, I know one of the guys that is in the thick > of the battle with LSU wireless and I can ask him what they are > planning on doing for the Linux folk, since he uses Linux on the > desktop (one of the few net guys on campus that does AFAIK). As you > probably also know, LSU is beholden to M$, IBM, and Cisco and > basically doesn't do much outside of those three vendors. >
