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Running a wireless ad-hoc network from an osx machine, can I programmatically access level 2 data (specifically mac address) of other wifi devices within range?

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You'll only have a layer two link if they associate to you (most will not). But you can certainly capture MAC addresses on traffic from packets flying by you for other access points; have a look at Kismet. In any case, this kind of question is not on topic for Server Fault, please review the faq. – Shane Madden Dec 28 '11 at 6:28
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If you get one answer closed, it's not polite or fruitful to re-ask the same question moments after the first one is closed. – WesleyDavid Dec 28 '11 at 6:30
@WesleyDavid The question wasn't closed, I deleted it. The wording was obviously confusing to people so I re-wrote the whole question. Thank you for your concern. – fancy Dec 28 '11 at 6:37
@Shane Thanks for the great information -- hrrm, this questions doesn't seem to fit anywhere... – fancy Dec 28 '11 at 6:40
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@WesleyDavid I disagree that this is a power user question, programmatically accessing level 2 network data seems much more like a networking question. Serverfault is for networking questions. The only other place I think it might fit is stack overflow. – fancy Dec 28 '11 at 6:54
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closed as off topic by WesleyDavid, ErikA, Ward, Scott Pack, mailq Dec 28 '11 at 20:44

Questions on Server Fault are expected to generally relate to servers, networking, or desktop infrastructure, within the scope defined in the faq.

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You could interrogate the ARP table. The is not a guaranteed method, but it's a fairly reliable way of mapping IP addresses to MAC addresses for active machines.

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