D&C GLug - Home Page

[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]

Re: [LUG] BBC NEWS | Technology | OLPC software to power aging PCs

 

I think you raise a very important point!!!

I seem to recall that the OLPC used wireless mesh technology or direct
laptop to laptop wifi connectivity to create the social network, it
then allowed you to see who was online in your area so to speak and
chat with them. When i saw the email saying that sugar labs had
separated and formed an independent distro the first thing i was
interested in is how one can get standard/old wifi adapters to connect
with one another and create a collective network. I have looked into
this before and it is my understanding that this is basically
impossible as you would have to have rewritten the code for the wifi
adapter at a hardware interface level - that is if it is possible at
all. of course you can get most older adapters to make direct direct
links to one other computer but obviously this is only one.

I would therefor say that this new sugar labs distro relies on the use
of routers to interface with each other like any other network and so
it would be impossible for a perverted asshole to walk into a school
and do this without hacking the network.

The other scenario is that they use a computer on an ethernet network
- but i believe this is also fairly easy to make secure against such
eventualities as it still requires a router to facilitate the
connections. I do not know how it is done but i have tried putting a
kabuntu disk into the pc at a university before to see if this would
work and it doesnt. therefor it is fair to assume that there are
securities in place to prevent such unauthorized access in this manner
as well.

However should sugar labs have somehow solved it so any wireless
adapter can be rejigged as a mesh network adapter then one would hope
they have put some sort of security in place to prevent such things -
:( i really hope so!!!

Dan


2009/6/26 Alan Pope <alan@xxxxxxxxx>:
> 2009/6/25 Paul Sutton <zleap@xxxxxxxxx>:
>>                                             nottuS luaP | Paul Sutton
>>                                           ten.paelz.www | www.zleap.net
>> fdo 00362 OSI stamrof elif dradnats OSI dna nepO troppuS | Support Open
>> and ISO standard file formats ISO 26300 odf
>>                             gro.ecnaillafdo.www//:ptth  |
>> http://www.odfalliance.org
>
>
> *boggle*
>
> --
> The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
> http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
> FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html
>



-- 

Yogi Berra  - "I never said most of the things I said." -
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/y/yogi_berra.html

-- 
The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG
http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list
FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html