Re: [gentoo-user] WPA2 connection configuration?

[Mick]

On Monday 26 Sep 2011 16:03:10 James Broadhead wrote:
> > On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 7:12 AM, Spidey / Claudio <spideybr@×××××.com>
> > Between the Gentoo Handbook and Google
> > (... )I didn't even know there was a better way of managing wireless
> > networks!
>
> This is exactly the problem.
>
> I'm working on rewriting the Handbook's page on setting up wifi, but
> I'm going to need some time to get into the Live-Environments to test
> that my new version works :P I'll post a draft here & would appreciate
> comments before I submit the bug report.
>
> On 26 September 2011 15:51, Mick <michaelkintzios@×××××.com> wrote:
> > On the other hand reading through the examples/comments for
> > /etc/conf.d/net and wpa_supplicant.conf takes the whole of 10-20
> > minutes.
>
> I absolutely disagree with this - while editing /etc/conf.d/net is
> fine, wpa_supplicant.conf requires a pretty solid understanding of
> both the network that you're trying to connect to, and the various
> protocols/encryption mechanisms available. Back when I was first
> trying to get wireless working on my systems, it was a major stumbling
> block.
>
> The gentoo install is pretty tough going for the average new user,
> with a lot of separate areas of new competence without getting into
> wireless (assuming that they have a reasonable understanding of
> computing to start). An additional 10-20 minutes of user intervention
> is quite significant overhead.

I have to agree that for a beginner who needs to install Gentoo getting the 
network connection going without a (major) problem or delay is quite 
important.  Otherwise, it can act as a disincentive of carrying on with the 
installation.  Therefore I would support the easy way to get there, but would 
also leave the manual configuration in there - for those who need to configure 
more convoluted set ups or are interested to look at what's happening under 
the bonnet.

-- 
Regards,
Mick