🚀 go-pugleaf

In aus.computers.linux, on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:02:36 +0100
Will Kemp <will@xxxx.swaggie.net> wrote:
>  Dialup connections (in Gnome, at least) are configured with 
>  system-config-network, which you get to from the main menu -> System -> 
>  Administration -> Network. It worked perfectly last time i had to 
>  configure a dialup connection.

It worked, but:

a) there was no decent status monitor
b) it didn't handle connection/disconnection of the USB cable at all
   well (the device just appears and disappears)
c) it was an effort to connect/disconnect.

Keeping in mind that these people (my parents) are Windows refugees, and
I'm trying to convince them that Linux is actually better.  Telling them
that they have to keep track of which logged in user actually initiated
the connection, find them, get them to type in their password.

Or drop back to the Terminal and do sudo jujitsu.

Not gunna happen.  Well, maybe it will - but they'll bitch and moan and
rightfully so.  In Windows there's a status monitor, it's easy to
connect and disconnect.  It just works[tm].

This is why I was so glad to find PPPtray and be able to customise it
pretty quickly (learning a bit of python on the way, whee) to actually
provide an even better user experience than the Windows tools.  Click to
connect, click to disconnect - status icon.  Status information that
device isn't connected if it's not.  All nice.  And sudo under the hood
to handle connections.


If I was rewriting this thing semi-from-scratch I'd integrate with the
Gnome level sudo support to use pon/poff and only call out to sudo if
the user that connected was a different one.  Allowing entry of any of

a) that user's password to su to them
b) any administrator's password to use sudo
c) the root password

to disconnect the connection.  Remember that this person is sitting in
front of the machine and can always just pull the bloody USB cable if
they want to disconnect, so any more roadblocks are crazy.

Bron.