no internet connection with Fedora16

[Paul W. Frields]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 12:36:56PM +0000, Timothy Murphy wrote:
> T.C. Hollingsworth wrote:
> 
> >> Make sure it's not set to work in Offline Mode.  My copy keeps resetting
> >> that every time it restarts and so far I haven't gotten it to stop.
> > 
> > Browse to "about:config" and set "network.manage-offline-status" to
> > "false".
> > 
> > IIRC this happens when you use the network service instead of
> > NetworkManager.  Firefox queries NetworkManager for the offline
> > status, and thinks you're offline when it's not in use.  Setting that
> > option prevents Firefox from doing this.
> 
> Thanks v. much for that.
> 
> But why does Firefox do this?
> It shows a surprising lack of common sense.
> 
> I put it on a par with NetworkManager's habit of editing /etc/resolv.conf
> and removing the nameservers mentioned there if it cannot see them.

Probably because NetworkManager has capabilities for setting static
wired connections, and for setting hands-off on DNS entries.  The
Firefox maintainers have chosen to assume that most users are not
going to mess with the innards of networking scripts, and that letting
NM manage connections is the most prudent move if you have to make one
choice for everyone.  People who like to mess with innards will
undoubtedly figure out how to change configurations.  The number of
users who would be baffled by delays in browsing when their connection
drops likely far outnumbers those who would be stymied by Offline Mode
in this case.

-- 
Paul W. Frields                                http://paul.frields.org/
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