> so far, the scenarios you've come up with would require the renaming
> of one file in /etc.  i suggest that you'd be much more upset if you
> removed a card and had all your interfaces renumbered for you.

There is often more than one file to edit or rename.  On my machine, for
instance, there would be three, and it is just a home machine.  In many
circumstances it would be advantageous to avoid editing any files
(say, in a remote 3rd party data centre).

It would be disconcerting to have higher numbered interfaces slide down
when a card is removed (although this parallels hard drives).  Often
replacing a defective ethernet card is time-critical, whereas removing
an ethernet card rarely is.  I would rather see the shell access
required for the less urgent situations.

Mike.