Re: Network Manager Service

[ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès)]

Hi Chris!

Chris Marusich <cmmarusich@gmail.com> skribis:

> OK, so Network Manager can be used, but I wouldn't say it's flawless.  I
> still prefer wicd, so I don't think we should replace wicd with Network
> Manager just yet.

OK.  :-)

> Specifically, I expect that it will automatically connect to my
> wireless network when I've checked the "Connect automatically" box and
> left the "Make available to other users" box unchecked.  However,
> Network Manager fails to auto-connect in that case.  This issue is
> present in other distros [1], but supposedly auto-connect works as
> expected on Debian [2].  I haven't tried it on Debian, so I can't
> confirm yet.

The Ubuntu bug report is quite old though, and since “everybody uses
NM”, I’d be surprised if such a basic feature was broken.

Do we get any useful messages from NM that would provide hints?

> Yes, it's true that on GuixSD, if you check the "Make available to other
> users" box, auto-connect works.  However, this workaround requires root
> to have a password [3], and it's just that: a workaround.

Indeed!

> [3] The reason it requires the root password is apparently because of
> our PolKit rules.  We should probably adjust the PolKit rules for this
> action so that the "wheel" group members can do it, not just the root
> user.  That way, I could authenticate using my own password (since I am
> in the "wheel" group for sudo access already), and I wouldn't have to
> give root a password.

I’m not sure what it takes to do that but it makes sense!

For wicd, wicd clients only work if the user is in group ‘netdev’.  We
could add that one too.

Thank you!

Ludo’.