Chuck Gelm wrote:
> It seems that there is a lot of configuration to be done
> and a lot of useless CALLSIGN-SSID assignments.
>
> The paragraph below is what I thought could not be done:
> Have the node ALIAS:CALLSIGN-SSID respond to an AX.25 connect.
I think there are two crucial points:
First, there is no relationship between the node name used for NetROM
routing and the alias used to establish layer 2 connections. They can
be the same, or different; they don't interact with one another. So
it's OK to have a NetROM node "MVFMA" and on the same machine use an
AX.25 alias of "MVFMA" for the same, or a totally different, purpose.
Second, there is no relationship between the call/SSID used for layer 2
user access and the call/SSID used for NetROM inter-node layer 3
traffic. All inter-node traffic uses the call/SSID that has been
assigned to the first NetROM port defined for the system (here, that's
node "#MVFMA" with call/SSID W8APR-13). But users never see that
call/SSID and don't need to know about it; it's used only for
inter-node traffic.
The separate NetROM ports configured for access to FBB and the node
software are like the BBS port that sits behind BPQ. To NetROM
neighbors, they appear as remote nodes reached via #MVFMA. The aliases
and call/SSIDs that are used to reach them via AX.25 are simply a more
flexible extension of the separate application alias and SSID (but not
call) in BPQ.
You're right that the Linux AX.25 system uses a lot of call/SSIDs and
is complex to configure (though once you figure it out, it's actually
pretty easy -- understanding the structure is a lot more difficult than
configuring it). That's a result of the Unix networking model that
defined how the Linux AX.25 code had to be written to integrate into
the kernel. I understand that the newest kernels may make it possible
to get rid of the call-per-interface requirement, but I don't know when
that might actually be implemented. (And I really don't know the
details behind this, so I'm sure it's a lot more complicated than I've
described.)
73,
John
--
John Ackermann N8UR
Dayton, Ohio, USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://www.febo.com
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