[Desktop_architects] OSDL Wireless Summit 2

[John Cherry]

Here is a quick update on the second wireless summit.  Steve Hemminger
(OSDL) was the technical leader at the event and provided the following
summary/report:

http://lwn.net/Articles/219102/ (if you have an LWN account)
http://developer.osdl.org/shemminger/Wireless2/summary.html

The summit was very productive with the following main points:

- Commitment to make experimental wireless packages available.  This
  will make the devicescape stack and associated drivers more available
  to developers.
- Progress on the new cfg80211 driver interface.  This is a message
  passing interface to replace the ioctl interface.  Of course, there
  will be a compatibility layer during the transition.
- Better understanding of the regulatory environment that vendors must
  operate in.  The issue is that the FCC does not want it to be easy
  for users to tamper with radio settings / power levels.  The only
  solution that can get certified in the current regulatory environment
  is to have a closed source component either in firmware (good), the
  kernel (bad), or userspace (less evil).

Presentations and details can be found on the wireless summit site at:

http://developer.osdl.org/dev/desktop_architects/index.php/Wireless_Summit_2

The next wireless summit was socialized as being in the fall (possibly
in October) either on the east coast of the US or in Israel.

John