On 06/21/2009 05:56 PM, Jeff Spaleta wrote:
On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 6:50 AM, John W. Linville<linville@redhat.com> wrote:
  
If a tool needs something to perform one of its functions it needs it.
There isn't a "anaconda-no-wireless" package, etc.
    


This speaks deeply to a cultural understanding as to what the concept
of networking is.

It seems obvious there are people who would like to consider wireless
as "optional." as this is an historic artifact of how networking tech
has developed over time.  I wonder, have we reached the point where
other people have started to consider a wired network "optional" as
well?

-jef

  
This is a good question. Laptops are becoming the norm if not already so, add "smart devices" and wireless is looking more like the standard rather than exception. We are not there quite yet though.

To most (almost all) desktop users, wireless packages are superfluous. That is generally not the case with a laptop user. As long as they have the hardware to support both, they will continue to need (want) both. So no, I do not believe we've reached a point where wired would be concidered optional, not yet anyway.

TK009