7. Notebook Utilities, Mobility Applications, Networking Tools, Wireless Utilities

Notebook Utilities

openSUSE's YaST software control panel has the upper hand with regard to package selection arrangement owing to its two notebook-specific application categories. The first, simply called "Notebook," covers wireless firmware utilities, Infra-Red tools, and Toshiba and IBM specific input device applications.

Suspend mode works fine using the stock kernel and corresponding tools under openSUSE, or with a Suspend2-modified kernel and the requisite toolset under Fedora. Using the latest ACPI capability built into a notebook and the right software resources, several states of suspend (or hibernation in Windows terminology) become possible, including suspend-to-RAM and suspend-to-disk, essential for prolonging battery life on the road.

Mobility Applications

Another SuSE-specific category is called Mobile Computing. It encompasses configuration utilities for everything from Bluetooth-enabled firmware, printers, and services to wireless card management, mobile phone support, and battery monitoring. That's only a small sampling: it also includes applications for synchronizing with PDAs, network services, and other desktop applications, ACPI debugging tools, USB device viewers, and various keyboard utilities.

Networking Tools

There are some tools that are not necessarily categorized as notebook utilities even though their functionality is clearly suited for mobile computing. As an example, the interface plug daemon (ifplugd) is purpose-built specifically to service network interfaces that are routinely plugged and unplugged. It acts as a background service that determines whether or not a network cable is plugged into the appropriate network interface, and therefore whether or not to configure the corresponding network interface profile.

Wireless Utilities

Bluetooth, 802.11 A/B/G, and Infra-Red are three obvious choices for wireless connectivity solutions and all three are supported (to varying degrees) under both Fedora and openSUSE. In our case, the Atheros-based NIC was recognized and configured with minimal effort. In fact, obtaining network access required nothing more than localizing typical settings to establish connectivity (addresses, name resolution, Internet gateway, and so forth).

In terms of selections available, however, openSUSE comes up short for wireless support. There are a few firmware tools common to many distributions, kernel modules for various chipsets, a single wireless sniffer (kismet), and a conservative wireless profile manager aptly named KWifiManager. Fedora offers somewhat more in this area, including profile managers (netgo, wifi-radar), several wireless monitors (gkrellm-wireless, wlassistant, wifiroamd), and a handful of other useful utilities in its Extras selection.