Control Panel / Network / Mesh / Server: should allow empty server

[bemasc]

The Control Panel should allow one not to specify a collaboration server, i.e. leave that field blank. Presently, one is presented with an error "You must enter a server". This should be downgraded to a "Warning: you have not entered a server".

There are lots of situations in which there is no server that can sensibly be specified, especially if one wishes to use Salut over an AP. The interface forces one to make up a url like "not.real.server" to fill that field. This is bad.

[thomaswamm]

Or, for users like me who don't know what it all means, can a default entry be suggested/provided? Something that cannot be permanently erased and forgotten? After I did a clean-install, the field had something in it, which eventually got lost during experimentation. I don't know what to use to get sharing (Chat, etc.) working.

[bemasc]

Currently, the default server (in 759) is set to olpc.collabora.co.uk. This server is being used for experimental testing on the Gadget branch, and no longer has the shared roster hack, so collaboration and presence do not work at all. Moreover, the XO will automatically connect to this server whenever an internet connection is available, and deactivate Salut, so sharing between to two laptops connected to the same AP no longer works when there is an internet connection.

thomaswamm: You don't need a server to have sharing work. Two laptops that are simply near each other, or connected to the same AP, will automatically "see" each other and begin sharing. Servers are only required for sharing between large numbers of users, or between users who are not on the same LAN. There is no single official sharing server, because no one wants the responsibility of maintaining it. See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Community_Jabber_Servers .

[wad]

When fixing this, please also change the name of the field in the control panel to be "Collaboration", not "Mesh". People are very confused about the difference, and mistakes like this just perpetuate the confusion.

[gdesmott]

Agree, PS should completely disable Gabble if no server is specified in Sugar's config file. I opened #8368 to track this PS change.

[erikos]

The check that a server must be entered can be easily removed if this is the behaviour we want.

[mstone]

Please generate patches which fix this issue for 8.2.0.

[mstone]

See also #8354.

[gdesmott]

Presence-service properly handle empty server key. See http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/8368#comment:2 for details.

So all we have to do is to set "" as server key if user doesn't enter anything in the control-panel.

[erikos]

the fix is in #8354 to allow to set an empty server from the control panel