Feature changed by: Thiago Sayao (sayao) Feature #310004, revision 12 - Title: use network manager by default instead of traditional method + Title: integrate network manager with traditional method of network + configuration (updated) openSUSE-11.3: Unconfirmed Priority Requester: Important Requested by: Thiago Sayao (sayao) Description: Use network manager by default instead of traditional method. Network Manager integrates better with the desktop and seems easier to configure (for example, to configure a VPN). I'm not sure about the features the traditional method provides and Network Manager does not, so please, discuss. UPDATE : Since the traditional method is needed on some environments (as listed on the comments) consider the option to integrate NetworkManager and the traditional method so we have the best of both. Discussion: #1: Ilya Chernykh (ansus) (2010-06-27 08:57:27) Bad idea. 1. Network manager cannot restore VPN connections on startup (many users connect Internet through VPN) 2. Network manager does not remember routes correctly 3. Network manager is compatible with only limited number of desktop environments 4. Network manager does not keep connection when exiting the session and logging in another desktop. - Many other drawbacks. The SUSE standard ifup- based system the most functional of any other variants so far and easily configured. #2: Thiago Sayao (sayao) (2010-06-27 20:13:17) (reply to #1) Humm, i suspected there would be drawbacks. What about integrating both? It does not seem right to have two methods of configuring the network, where one method works better for some things and the other works better for others. In the best scenario there would be one method there is the best for everything. Some gnome apps uses network manager to check if the network is up for example. #3: Rajko Matovic (rajko_m) (2010-07-01 05:41:22) Network Manager is default last few releases. #4: Rob Verduijn (robverduijn) (2010-07-05 15:34:04) My biggest objection to network manager is that when using a laptop the network is not started until the desktop is visible. This is a serious problem when you wish to authenticate against samba/ldap/radius/etc. ie the network is needed for authentication, but it will not be started untill after your authentication. p.s. Last time I checked it is default when using a laptop with a wifi adapter, when using a wired (no-wifi) desktop I always find traditional network management installed. #5: Rob Verduijn (robverduijn) (2010-07-05 15:38:05) addendum I just saw you could misinterpret my problem. Let me try again. My biggest objection to network manager is that when using a wireless connection on a laptop the network is not started until the desktop is visible. #6: Ned Ulbricht (ned_ulbricht) (2010-07-05 17:07:58) Imho, NetworkManager is inappropriate for servers. Around here, servers have a static network configuration. If the network goes down for any reason, then I've got to bring up a remote serial console to talk to the box. "Servers" include general-purpose application/cycle servers for a multi- user environment: Iow, something that you might think of as a "desktop". I don't care whether the standard install defaults to NetworkManager. I can fix that. But I do care about support for a reliable, locked-down, static network configuration. Further, I don't want to see rpm dependencies on NetworkManager--I don't want it installed on machines where static networking is required. -- openSUSE Feature: https://features.opensuse.org/310004