Netapplet

[Dan Williams]

On Sun, 24 Oct 2004, Nadeem Bitar wrote:
> Please include the netapplet[1] in FC3.
>  I have spent the last few hours trying to compile it myself and install
> it with no success. For mobile users who change network settings two
> times a day or more, this applet is a must.

Nadeem,

netapplet won't get in FC3 for a few reasons...

1) FC3 is already locked.  No new things are going in, and only critical 
bugfixes make the cut.

2) We're moving to NetworkManager 
(http://people.redhat.com/dcbw/NetworkManager).  NM uses dbus and exposes 
a rich network information and control interface to userspace 
applications, much more than netapplet does.  What NM doesn't do that 
netapplet does right now is support dialup connections, but in the near 
future we hope that's a possiblity.  Except for dialup, NetworkManager 
does everything that netapplet does, and alows user applications like 
Evolution, Firefox, etc to know about the network state (like offline 
mode, for example).  It also automatically switches network interfaces if 
desired, so that when you dock your laptop for example, it will switch to 
the wired interface automatically.

3) There really isn't a place for more than 1 wireless applet, and we had 
3 to choose from (gnome-applets one, NetworkManager, and netapplet)

Dan