Replace Network-Manager With Wicd : Ubuntu 9.04

I remember when network-manager first came out. It was the most welcome piece of software I could imagine! The idea that a graphical tool would manage my wireless networks for me, display available SSIDs and signal strength and basically just keep me online with minimal work on my part. It sure beat the dark magic of the command line just to get connected! I want to thank the network-manager developers for creating such a helpful application. I’d also like to introduce an alternative for those that may not have had the same luck I did with network manager.

Install Wicd

The Wicd network manager is available in the core Ubuntu repositories for Ubuntu 9.04. It can be installed by using the following command or clicking on the link below:

sudo aptitude install wicd

This will download and install the Wicd package, and remove the network-manager tools. You’ll likely want to relogin for the changes to fully take effect.

You’ll find that Wicd isn’t that much different than network manager. It has a slighly different interface, but I think it is a little lighter and, at times, more customizable. I have had great luck with Wicd. When network-manager will give me connection issues, Wicd is able to directly connect when I need it to. Of course wireless on Linux isn’t flawless, but its getting there, and between these two tools we have greater choice on what we want to use while getting online.