Re: [Madwifi-users] madwifi driver update plan on Debian

[Kel M. <ke...@ot...>]

Hi Punky,

On Tuesday 24 June 2008 11:52:54 Punky wrote:
> Kel and all,
> 
> I would like to see if there is a plan out there to update madwifi
> driver on Debian anytime soon.  Right now, the latest madwifi driver
> version in Debian is 0.9.4-rc2 [1] with some additional patches.  I am
> looking for an update of the madwifi driver in Debian since the
> testing repository will go into freeze very soon [2] for lenny
> release.

The current packages are equivalent to the current "stable" Madwifi upstream
release.

> 
> [1] http://packages.debian.org/lenny/madwifi-source
> [2] http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2008/06/msg00000.html
> --

It is true, the Debian archive freeze is coming closer. ath5k is not functional
enough for people's daily use on the most part, so they will be looking to
Madwifi to provide wireless networking support for them.

Most people with new-ish hardware will find the Debian madwifi packages based
on 0.9.4 don't provide support for them, and in fact cause many new users grief
when they attempt to use them first, instead of finding snapshots.madwifi.org
where they can find a newer driver version to install outside of their package
manager's safety and convenience.

What must also be considered, is that whatever makes it into Debian Lenny is
based on a branch or version of Madwifi with a clear reference point, so that
identified security issues can be fixed 6, 12, 18 months from now, ideally by
cherry picking a patch commited to madwifi.org SVN. Debian Etch saw two
updates of the madwifi software for security reasons, and these are not taken
care of by the Debian Security Team, as they do not give a crap about non-free,
but the pkg-madwifi maintenance group.

In addition to the points already raised, we have to look at the state of Madwifi
upstream:
 * 3 branches with different HAL versions (0.9.4, trunk, 0.10.5.6)
 * trunk differs greatly to stable branch (codebase and HAL)
 * semi-official announcement of new HAL provider

Advice as to which madwifi codebase would be the best long term choice for
Debian stable is welcome.

As a side note, Matthew W.S.Bell, should be assuming an active role in debian
madwifi maintenance in the near future, with myself fading away into distant
past.

Thanks, Kel.