# Why put net.eth0 etc. in default?

## figueroa

In spite of the instruction in the baselayout upgrade guide, I've removed net.eth0 and net.wlan0 from the default run level on my laptop, leaving just net.lo in boot.

I have netplug installed.

Both of my network interfaces come up just fine, with net.eth0 inactive because no cable is plugged in.

It strikes me that the baselayout instruction to add these interfaces to default is overkill and more likely to cause problems than solve them.

What is it that I don't know?

Tangentially, why does the baselayout upgrade delete the symlink net.eth0.  That's strikes me as just rude.  After all, most people have and need that symlink.

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## Hu

If you do not have netplug and you do not have those interfaces in a runlevel, they will not be started and you will not have network access.

The net.eth0 symlink is removed as a side effect of how the old baselayout was originally written.  I assume the developers decided that it was easier to document the issue in the migration guide than to identify and implement a comprehensive fix to ensure you could safely emerge sys-apps/baselayout && reboot.  Since you must update other configuration files anyway, adding an interface is only one more minor step in the migration.

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## figueroa

Thank you, Hu.  That's a perfect explanation.

For my laptops, I find using netplug and NOT putting the network interfaces into the run level gives me fewer problems and a faster boot with parallel startup turned on in rc.conf but I'm completely by-the-book on my desktops and servers.

I've yet to find a satisfactory way to get ntp-client on the laptops to start without an issue but just gave it up and put:

NTPD_OPTS="-g"

in /etc/conf.d/ntpd and find it is a satisfactory solution.

Kind regards.

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