kde4 ksysguard aka system monitor

[Shaggy Wolf]

On Tuesday 21 July 2009 04:12:54 Duncan wrote:
> Duncan <1i5t5.duncan at cox.net> posted pan.2009.07.21.05.17.08 at cox.net,
>
> excerpted below, on  Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:17:09 +0000:
> >> The only thing I can tell you is that KDE4 depends on NetworkManager.
> >> I don't know for sure, but I think that it uses this to find network
> >> connections.  This has a daemon "NetworkManager" and it will normally
> >> show as "sleeping" in KSysGuard.
> >>
> >> I would first check to see that that process has been started, and if
> >> it isn't, then reinstall the binary for "NetworkManager".
> >
> > That was my suspicion.  I haven't yet confirmed it, but I expect we're
> > both correct in our speculative mapping, here.
>
> [Slept a couple hours, so I can think again at least.]
>
> Ugh!  If I turn on USE=networkmanager for solid, it (of course) brings in
> networkmanager as a dependency.  So far, so good, BUT...
>
> But networkmanager pulls in a bunch of /other/ absolutely nonsense
> dependencies.  Why on /earth/ should I need wpa_supplicant on a wired-
> network-only desktop/workstation system?  Why on /earth/ should I need
> ppp on a standard IP/Ethernet wired system?  Why on /earth/ should I need
> wireless-tools?  It also pulls in libnl, which Gentoo defines as "a
> library for applications dealing with netlink socket."  I'm not exactly
> sure what that is all about, but I suppose that might be a legitimate
> Ethernet-only-network dependency, at least, unlike the others.  Finally,
> it pulls in policykit, which I've seen mentioned various times in various
> places, but haven't yet had to worry about, so know little about it.  But
> I suspect that's a legitimate dependency for a networkmanager, so it can
> properly control the appropriate permissions.
>
> Need I remind people that every unnecessary installed package is not only
> additional maintenance load (particularly on a from-source distribution,
> where such things count), but ALSO additional potential security vulns
> that otherwise wouldn't affect that particular installation?  Why on
> /earth/ should I be expected to install otherwise unnecessary wireless
> and ppp packages on an Ethernet-only connected system, just to get
> Ethernet-only network monitoring?
>
> OK, so now question one is does kde network monitoring /really/ depend on
> networkmanager or is that simply something linked in for those binary
> distributions that can't be bothered to provide a non-networkmanager
> linked solid for those who don't need it?  That I don't yet know the
> answer to... yet.
>
> If the answer to that question is that it's really required, question two
> is does networkmanager /really/ require those additional wireless and ppp
> packages for standard Ethernet/IP/wired-only network connected systems,
> or again, are those bogus dependencies only linked in by binary
> distributions that can't be bothered to provide a separate wired-Ethernet-
> only version?
>
> Thus, ultimately the question becomes where's the bug?  Because there's
> DEFINITELY a bug SOMEWHERE if I have to install wireless and ppp packages
> on a standard Ethernet/IP/wired-only connected desktop, just to get kde
> network monitoring for that standard Ethernet/IP/wired-only connection!
>
> If the answer to #1 is that networkmanager is indeed required, it's not
> some other issue, AND the answer to #2 is that network manager does
> indeed require those wireless and ppp packages, THEN the bug is KDE's,
> since ultimately requiring wireless and ppp packages as a dependency of
> simply monitoring standard IP wired network traffic is simply nonsense.
> There may be a secondary bug as well, if networkmanager is purposed at
> general network support, including on wired-only systems, since in that
> case it's a dependency that shouldn't be mandatory in the first place.
> But regardless of whether networkmanager is intended for that or not, if
> it's requiring it, then it's a bug for KDE to be depending on
> networkmanager for simple wired network monitoring, since the second-
> level requirement is known.
>
> If the answer to #1 is that network manager is indeed required, but the
> answer to #2 is that networkmanager does NOT have a mandatory compile-
> time dependency on wireless, THEN the bug is Gentoo's (on the
> networkmanager package), for not splitting that dependency out on
> USE=wireless and USE=ppp or some such.
>
> Of course, if the answer to #1 is that network manager is NOT required,
> then we still have to discover what IS required that I don't have, and
> why I don't have it.  THAT may be a Gentoo dependency bug, or a KDE
> dependency bug, or a bug due simply to my specific config, or a different
> bug related to some other package.
>
> The next question is where to go from here.  Will it be easier to simply
> install all that crap and see if it fixes the problem, or to go diving
> into source config options for networkmanager, to see if there's a way to
> turn off the wireless and ppp stuff in its compile time configure, that
> Gentoo missed.
>
> Meh... I'm tired, if I do it right now I'll just let the machine do the
> work and then test the results... but I'm going to do a kernel update
> first and see if the bug I have filed there is fixed (tho it hasn't been
> closed, but who knows, maybe it got fixed in the normal process and all I
> have to do is update, test, and mark the bug as fixed), then a general
> package update.  Who knows, maybe Gentoo's included some upstream kde
> patches by now too.  Or maybe I'll decide to screw kde 4.2.4 and try the
> latest 4.3 rc and see what that might have fixed.

Don't know if this helps you or not but on my fresh gentoo install 
(accidentally deleted var and opt with no backups) my "System Monitor - 
Network" plasmoid is working correctly and I don't have knetworkmanager or 
networkmanager installed. If you are using wired internet all you would have 
to do is set it up in /etc/conf.d/net and it should be available to the kde 
network monitor. I am running kde 4.2.4 atm.

HTH (or at least points you in the right direction)
Scott
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