> > Is there a common sysctl interface, or any interface at all, to tell
> > whether the link status of a network card is up?
Ironically, I was just about to post an identical question. Instead, I'll
address some of the issues implicit in my request...
> The interface exists in 2.3, but no drivers using this interface
> still exist. 8)
:(. That seems short sighted.
Ideally, network drivers would report changes in link status in a manner
that would allow a user-space daemon to respond to them (without having to
repeatedly poll the device).
This would be particularly useful in mobile devices (laptops, palmtops,
etc) that may frequently boot up without any network, or may frequently be
plugged into different networks. A user-space daemon that responds to
link changes would mean:
(a) no more waiting for a DHCP client to timeout at boot because the
network isn't plugged in.
(b) notebooks could transparently move between networks -- just
rerun your dhcp client whenever the links comes back up.
(c) network failures could trigger immediate action (contact admin,
failover to a second interface, etc).
All of these would contribute to a more flexible networking subsystem,
particularly for those of us running Linux on mobile devices.
-- Lars
-- Lars Kellogg-Stedman <lars@larsshack.org> --> http://www.larsshack.org/- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
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