Written by bcurtiswx the 16 Feb 09 at 22:44.

If ubuntu can be made to get this internet connection set-up before the desktop is completely loaded, then programs like pidgin, evolution, etc.. (any internet program that runs on startup, either by default or user selection), can all connect on the first try allowing the user to get their blog reading/IM sending/youtube watching started that much sooner.
I would imagine theres other ways to tweak this idea to make it even better. please comment on this and how to make it an even better idea!

If ubuntu can be made to get this internet connection set-up before the desktop is completely loaded, then programs like pidgin, evolution, etc.. (any internet program that runs on startup, either by default or user selection), can all connect on the first try allowing the user to get their blog reading/IM sending/youtube watching started that much sooner. I would imagine theres other ways to tweak this idea to make it even better. please comment on this and how to make it an even better idea!

Written by coder543 the 23 Feb 09 at 22:42.

When this 'new guy' connects, it should search for other Ubuntu computers. If it finds one, it could ask the computer if there are any printers it should know about. Also, it would ask for permission to have guest access to the hard drives of the Ubuntu computers on the network. When it does this, the Ubuntu host would respond with a request for the access code. This code could be anything from a four digit number, to any length of code. If the user enters the code correctly, the user could choose to either permanently or temporarily remember the information that the host Ubuntu computer gave it. This way, if the user was merely a guest who came over just to visit... they could use the printers and other peripheral items for their stay, or if they were part of the family; they would instantly have configured their computer. (http://www.pcauthority.com.au/Tools/Print.aspx?CIID=137607 , source: item 12)

When this 'new guy' connects, it should search for other Ubuntu computers. If it finds one, it could ask the computer if there are any printers it should know about. Also, it would ask for permission to have guest access to the hard drives of the Ubuntu computers on the network. When it does this, the Ubuntu host would respond with a request for the access code. This code could be anything from a four digit number, to any length of code. If the user enters the code correctly, the user could choose to either permanently or temporarily remember the information that the host Ubuntu computer gave it. This way, if the user was merely a guest who came over just to visit... they could use the printers and other peripheral items for their stay, or if they were part of the family; they would instantly have configured their computer. (http://www.pcauthority.com.au/Tools/Print.aspx?CIID=137607 , source: item 12)

Written by r0g the 25 Feb 09 at 10:12.

Funny the OP should mention that article as I can't wait to see the shit hit the fan when this new Windows 7 auto networking stuff comes onstream.

Imagine when little Timmy stumbles across Mummy and Daddy's "special" pictures in his search or when your teenage son's friends bring their infected laptops over, spray trojans all over your auto-shared folders and steal all you business docs & firefox passwords. Imagine the fun when small businesses don't change the defaults on their new PCs end up leaking confidential data everywhere they go. As if using the free wifi at the coffee shop wasn't already insecure enough imagine what it will soon be like when every yahoo in the place is instantly given directions to all your files and possibly your employers files, brilliant.

Is this an aspect of windows we should be emulating?

IMHO networking is something best done deliberately: something Ubuntu with its no open ports philosophy once seemed to believe too. I'm not disputing there may be room for better tools here but the idea of automagically linking up everything by default on fresh (and therefore unpatched!) installs makes me shudder.

PS: sudo apt-get install samba, right-click, share.
PPS: static ip's and host file
PPPS: Yes I do disable avahi.

Funny the OP should mention that article as I can't wait to see the shit hit the fan when this new Windows 7 auto networking stuff comes onstream. Imagine when little Timmy stumbles across Mummy and Daddy's "special" pictures in his search or when your teenage son's friends bring their infected laptops over, spray trojans all over your auto-shared folders and steal all you business docs & firefox passwords. Imagine the fun when small businesses don't change the defaults on their new PCs end up leaking confidential data everywhere they go. As if using the free wifi at the coffee shop wasn't already insecure enough imagine what it will soon be like when every yahoo in the place is instantly given directions to all your files and possibly your employers files, brilliant. Is this an aspect of windows we should be emulating? IMHO networking is something best done deliberately: something Ubuntu with its no open ports philosophy once seemed to believe too. I'm not disputing there may be room for better tools here but the idea of automagically linking up everything by default on fresh (and therefore unpatched!) installs makes me shudder. PS: sudo apt-get install samba, right-click, share. PPS: static ip's and host file PPPS: Yes I do disable avahi.

Written by rockinrobstar the 21 Mar 09 at 08:23.

Zeroconf is already somewhat integrated into Ubuntu thanks to the addition of Avahi. It currently achieves three main goals:

1) Allocate an IP address in the absence of a manually or DHCP assigned one. (These are those 169.254.x.x address, they are limited to local connections and cannot be routed - it is an RFC standard known as ipv4lla and is in every major OS).

2) Provide name resolution (i.e IP address names) in the absence of a managed DNS server. Zeroconf achieves this through a system called multicast DNS.

3) Provides a mechanism to locate services on the network. This is where zeroconf shines; it is efficient, scalable and quite reliable as well as being adaptable to almost any service found on a network. Examples of what it already does: Say you set up an Apache web server on one machine, you should be able to use a browser to automatically find that server on the network. Another example is an IM client that automatically adds everyone using IM on your network to your buddies list.

It should be fairly easy to add support to discover zeroconf advertised printers on the network (most new network printers come with zeroconf built in). As for locally attached printers (via parallel or usb) it should be easy enough to add something in the configuration of the printer to allow it to be shared to the network.

Zeroconf is already somewhat integrated into Ubuntu thanks to the addition of Avahi. It currently achieves three main goals: 1) Allocate an IP address in the absence of a manually or DHCP assigned one. (These are those 169.254.x.x address, they are limited to local connections and cannot be routed - it is an RFC standard known as ipv4lla and is in every major OS). 2) Provide name resolution (i.e IP address <-> names) in the absence of a managed DNS server. Zeroconf achieves this through a system called multicast DNS. 3) Provides a mechanism to locate services on the network. This is where zeroconf shines; it is efficient, scalable and quite reliable as well as being adaptable to almost any service found on a network. Examples of what it already does: Say you set up an Apache web server on one machine, you should be able to use a browser to automatically find that server on the network. Another example is an IM client that automatically adds everyone using IM on your network to your buddies list. It should be fairly easy to add support to discover zeroconf advertised printers on the network (most new network printers come with zeroconf built in). As for locally attached printers (via parallel or usb) it should be easy enough to add something in the configuration of the printer to allow it to be shared to the network. Zeroconf also offers an alternative method for advertising samba shares on a network. It can be used in parallel with the old (NetBIOS) method (and this is what Mac OS X does) and seems to be far more efficient in terms of network bandwidth and reliability of finding shares. There are many other services that could (and perhaps should) be extended to use zeroconf. It is something that Ubuntu should embrace as it greatly adds to ease of use with regards to networks. Solution #2 seems to have fallen into the trap of thinking that zeroconf makes your whole computer open to the network; it doesn't, it is a mechanism of discovering the services that would be there otherwise, but would require tools such as a port scan or someone telling you its there to discover. It is up to the services themselves to provide access security.