[PLUG-TALK] speaking of Google...

[Benjamin Kerensa]

On 10/08/2012 05:26 PM, Galen Seitz wrote:
> On 10/08/2012 04:57 PM, Benjamin Kerensa wrote:
>> On 10/08/2012 04:22 PM, Russell Senior wrote:
>>> I learned this weekend that Google's Android has been progressively
>>> making it more and more difficult to use adhoc mode on their wifi.
>>> This is impacting people developing infrastructureless communications
>>> technologies (such as the awesomely cool Serval Project), particularly
>>> those that would be useful in disaster situations.  Furthermore, they
>>> are being less that transparent about why they are doing it.  The
>>> speculation is that carriers are pressuring them to eliminate it.  It
>>> is clear they are doing it intentionally (they are removing features
>>> that exist, by commenting out/deleting kernel code).  It is getting to
>>> the point that even if you go to the extreme measure of
>>> compile/installing your own kernel to reenable adhoc mode, the GSM and
>>> bluetooth modules will cease working.
>>>
>>> https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/android-platform/tLLspmSySbY
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Google is not making it harder to use Ad-Hoc they simply have never
>> supported it.
>> http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=82
>>
>> Android further is Open Source and you can pull the source from AOSP
>> and see that they have not removed the support from the Kernel
>> versus they just have not added support in their wifi toolsets.
> That's certainly not my interpretation of the messages in Russell's
> link.  Quoting Paul Gardner-Stephen:
>
> "Speaking from the perspective of the Serval Project, we are
> needlessly expending hundreds of hours of effort to make adhoc IBSS
> work to some degree on Android, with substantial effort required for
> each different handset, which is delaying our ability to get our
> software to deployable quality, all because of the lack of adhoc IBSS
> support.
>
> It should be noted that the wpa_supplicant goes to some effort to
> PREVENT adhoc mode, i.e., it is non-accidental that Android does not
> support adhoc IBSS mode.  ..."
>
>
> galen
Notably wpa_supplicant is not the Kernel ( 
http://hostap.epitest.fi/wpa_supplicant/)
and of course they are going to disable a feature that is not supported 
by the rest
of the Android system yet.

It would be like owning a 802.11ac router but not having a single device 
that
was 802.11ac capable... Futile so you would turn off the 802.11ac mode.

-- 
Benjamin Kerensa
http://benjaminkerensa.com
"I am what I am because of who we all are" - Ubuntu

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