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From:
Stuart Henderson <stu@spacehopper.org>
Subject:
Re: Purging old 802.11 (wireless) drivers
To:
Patrick Harper <mail@paianis.name>
Cc:
tech@openbsd.org
Date:
Tue, 9 Sep 2025 11:15:04 +0100

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On 2025/09/09 10:35, Patrick Harper wrote:
> There are at least four 802.11 drivers for adapters that don't support
> any form of WPA encryption:

imho, WPA1/2 PSK is no better than WEP or even really open network if
you're on a public hotspot with a known PSK.

> wi(4)
> rtw(4)
> atw(4)
> atu(4)
> 
> For Cardbus and PCI there have been better options for decades, the only
> utility of some of the devices supported is operation in 16-bit PC Card
> and CompactFlash slots, but is anyone using those for WiFi anymore?

wi(4) still shows up in fairly recent dmesg@openbsd.org submissions
and is _extremely_ common hardware, it would be a pity to lose that.

The others not for a long time. But unless they're actually getting in
the way of development I don't think there's any point in removing them.