laptop network configuration

[matt zagrabelny <z@saturnsys.com>]

hello all,

i am trying to get my laptop's network configured using the
ping-places.sh script in /usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples/ping-places.sh

here is what my /etc/network/interfaces file looks like:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
                                                                                 auto eth0
mapping eth0
    script /usr/local/sbin/ping-places.sh
    map 192.168.8.254/24 192.168.8.254 home
    map 131.212.66.207/24 bulldog.d.umn.edu school
    map 192.168.8.254/24 127.0.0.1 nowhere

iface home inet static
    address 192.168.8.2
    netmask 255.255.255.0
    gateway 192.168.8.254
    broadcast 192.168.8.255

iface school inet dhcp

iface nowhere inet static
    address 192.168.8.2
    netmask 255.255.255.0

the main problem right now is that ping-places.sh returns true for the
first test (home) when my ethernet cable is unplugged from the laptop
when i boot. my home network is very simple, a masquerading firewall
with two nics, one to a cable modem and the other static. the static ip
for the gateway is 192.168.8.254 (as seen above). the laptop tries to
ping it via the script.

i know that the script ping-places.sh source is not listed here, i can
list it if it someone would think it might help. one problem though is
that the script makes use an (some) undocumented (no man pages) commands
like 'ip'. so it is a little hard to find out what exactly is happening.

i guess i am hoping that someone else who has tried this method of
configuring the interfaces and succeeded can help me out.

any advice is much welcomed!

-matt zagrabelny