Hi all, On 9/17/21 1:30 PM, Rich Brown wrote: > Hi Arınç > >> On Sep 17, 2021, at 3:17 AM, Arınç ÜNAL <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> The current naming used on LuCI/UCI is inaccurate and confusing. The >> “interfaces” under Network → Interfaces actually represent networks. The >> actual interfaces are called “device”. > > I agree that the terminology is confusing. I really struggled with the names > when I added them into the preface to the DSA Mini-tutorial > (https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/dsa/dsa-mini-tutorial). I did > some research looking at the original DSA documentation: it didn't offer much > in the way of definitions. So I followed my usual practice of documenting the > lingo of whatever application I'm using. > > After looking hard at how LuCI seemed to work, I wrote: > > -------- > • Devices are physical connections that convey bits/frames to other > computers. They operate at layer 2 in the protocol stack, have a MAC address > along with several other configurable parameters... > > • Interfaces route IP packets and operate at layer 3 in the protocol > stack. An interface is associated with a single device that sends/receives > its packets. Interfaces get their IP address parameters by the choice of > protocol... > --------- > > I haven't heard any corrections from others about these assertions, so I am > hopeful that I got those definitions right. > > When you say that "interfaces... actually represent networks" I think you > mean that they're "subnets" (and have a subnet address range, IP address, and > other characteristics). Is that what you mean? Although I'm neither a Linux > OS or network expert, I can see an explanation for using the terms "devices" > and "interfaces" as defined above.
This is not always the case. For example, it is possible to have a tun or tap interface which does not have a corresponding ip address. This is more than just a device, because layer 3 packets can arrive on such an interface. Another example, from Freifunk, are mesh (either Ad-Hoc or 802.11s) interfaces. These are interfaces which have a static IP address, but the netmask is 255.255.255.255. This is not a network in the sense most people are used to using, but still a completely valid configuration. I think staying with the terminology "device" and "interface" is the right way to go. Greets, Perry > > In this case, I believe it will be difficult to change the terminology used > in OpenWrt/LuCI. I think that train has left the station. Perhaps our efforts > will be best used toward documenting the syntax and GUI as it is today, so > that people can configure their gear the way they want. > > Best regards, > > Rich > _______________________________________________ > openwrt-devel mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.openwrt.org/mailman/listinfo/openwrt-devel > _______________________________________________ openwrt-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.openwrt.org/mailman/listinfo/openwrt-devel
