(from rms)

Wifi seems to work, including WEP keys, in the newest Linux
which you thought it might fail in. [DC - this was a 2.6.31 non-gnewsense build - as of this writing rms is running 2.6.32]

However, previous versions printed messages when the device
associated, etc. That was very useful. Now that doesn't happen.

When I booted with the ALFA external wifi device plugged in,
it was named wlan1, and wlan0 was not visible.

When I booted without connecting the ALFA device
and connected it subsequently, it was named wlan1
but wlan0 was also visible and usable.