[X Newbies] OSX not dial-up friendly

[Eugene Lee]

On Wed, Sep 24, 2003 at 06:19:52PM -0700, Kevin Stevens wrote:
: 
: On Wednesday, Sep 24, 2003, at 17:16 US/Pacific, Eugene Lee wrote:
: >
: >You know, you can set up PPP access to automatically get a dialup
: >connection when an app needs Internet access.  Strangely, some users
: >forget this little checkbox once they've done so and sometimes wonder
: >why their computers might suddenly dial the modem during odd hours.
: >Other users have no problem with it.  So what if automated PPP access
: >affects the entire system.  It is also part of every consumer OS and is
: >considered a standard feature.  And it doesn't need admin privileges.
: 
: It should, actually, to enable in the first place (doesn't it?).  And 
: those preference panels do have locks on them.

There are locks there, but I think that the Network preferences are by
default unlocked.  Therefore, Apple decided that it trusts the user to
enter and maintain the appropriate network settings without the need for
requesting admin privs.  If Apple can trust the user to open and close
the connection to the Internet, we should trust the user too.

: >Automatically closing an Internet connection has no more danger, peril,
: >or grave responsibility to system resources than opening an Internet
: >connection.  It's the reverse function to a standard OS feature.  And I
: >still don't see the big deal.
: 
: Oh, I *totally* disagree with that!  If you try and open a connection 
: and it's already present, there's no effect on other entities using 
: those resources.  If you unilaterally close it, you've just yanked the 
: rug out from under those entities.

If the user presses the "Disconnect" button in Internet Connect.app,
then she understands that any other programs that might be using the
connection will lose it.  Of course we assume she understands what's
going on with her computer.  She might, she might not.  But it's a
matter of trusting the user to open and close the connection to the
Internet as she sees fit.

: But at some point this isn't a Newbies thread - I'm about ready to end 
: it if you are.

No problemo.  Just felt like fleshing out some views.  :-)


-- 
Eugene Lee
http://www.coxar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/