Re: [gentoo-user] from Firefox52: NO pure ALSA?, WAS: Firefox 49.0 & Youtube... Audio: No

[lee]

Neil Bothwick <neil@××××××××××.uk> writes:

> On Mon, 26 Dec 2016 21:01:22 +0100, lee wrote:
>
>> > AFAIK, you have three possibilities.
>> >
>> > 1) If you're renaming a NIC via its MAC address, you have to edit the
>> > config file thatlinks the NIC's names and its MAC address.
>> >
>> > 2) If you're using udev's predictable names, the NIC'll have the same
>> > (more or less complex) name if you use the same slot.
>> >
>> > 3) If you're using the kernel names, you have no guarantee that ethX
>> > will be assigned to the same NIC at every bot.
>>
>> So there's no good option because names may change unless you make and
>> maintain an assignment.  I wonder why that isn't the default ...
>
> I would imagine because it cannot be used without some initial
> configuration. The default provides the greatest reliability out of the
> box, at the expense of less readable (which is not the same as
> unrecognisable, a value judgement you are imposing on the names) names.

I call them unrecognisable because they are hard to recognise, as in
hard to read and impossible to remember.  I find that annoying.  I can
call them "annoying names" if you prefer that :)

> There is nothing wrong with wanting things to work as you do, but it
> requires input to do so. It you have to start editing files to make it
> work properly, there is little point in making it the default.

Right, and it could work without editing files manually.  A
configuration file assigning editable names to the annoying names could
be created automatically and filled by assigning the name an interface
already has to it (because when it has a name, the name is known, which
is easier than trying to make up all possible names in advance).  Then
only if you wanted you would edit the configuration file to assign the
name(s) of your choosing, and if you don't want to do that, you simply
get the names you get now.  There would be no change to how the names
are now, only an additional option.

That would also have the advantage that when the annoying name of an
interface changes, you can choose to either adjust all configuration
files in which you have specified a particular interface or simply
adjust the one configuration file that assigns the names.

I actually wonder why they didn't virtualise the names.  It makes too
much sense for not to do it, and you could do likewise with other
devices (especially disks).