Alan McKinnon <alan.mckin...@gmail.com> writes: > On Friday 12 February 2010 09:44:01 Graham Murray wrote: >> Volker Armin Hemmann <volkerar...@googlemail.com> writes: >> > so how do you propose that a network connection manager tells a broweser >> > or mail app that they are offline? >> >> Why does the app need to know? Browsers normally have an online/offline >> menu selection and if you try to browse to a site when your network is >> offline then the browser will generate the appropriate error message. In >> any case, these notifications are only really of use on a single-homed >> non LAN connected system. On an office LAN, you may well be able to >> still access your mail server but a problem means that you cannot access >> any web sites. > > A network connection manager tells apps when the machine's interface goes > down, not when the gateway is no longer available. > > You have these two things conflated.
Which still does not explain why the applications need to know when a network interface goes down but does not need to know when (for example) the ADSL connection (via an external router) to the 'outside world' goes down[1]. As far as both the application and the user are concerned the effect is exactly the same in both cases - the application is offline. If it is considered important to inform the application of one, then it should be equally important to inform the application of the other. If a network interface goes offline then the user needs to know, so as to take corrective action, but I do not think that telling the web browser and mail applications is the correct way of informing the user. [1] Which in my experience, while not a frequent occurrence, happens far more frequently than the network interface going down.
