There is a small Problem with the checking of the down-state of
network-interfaces.
in /etc/rc.d/init.d/network and
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/network-functions
you do ifconfig... | grep UP  to see if an interface is down. (also 6.x)
This normally works fine, except in Germany (German language) when using
Point-To-Point Connections. There the pointopoint output gets translated to
PUNKTZUPUNKT where UP is contained. So a grep for "UP " or a better
Solution
without grep should be used.