linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v11 00/20] Compile-time stack validation

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Date:	Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:11:54 -0500
From:	Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@...hat.com>
To:	Ingo Molnar <mingo@...nel.org>
Cc:	Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>,
	Ingo Molnar <mingo@...hat.com>,
	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>, x86@...nel.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, live-patching@...r.kernel.org,
	Michal Marek <mmarek@...e.cz>,
	Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>,
	Andy Lutomirski <luto@...nel.org>,
	Borislav Petkov <bp@...en8.de>,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Andi Kleen <andi@...stfloor.org>,
	Pedro Alves <palves@...hat.com>,
	Namhyung Kim <namhyung@...il.com>,
	Bernd Petrovitsch <bernd@...rovitsch.priv.at>,
	Chris J Arges <chris.j.arges@...onical.com>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk <konrad.wilk@...cle.com>,
	Boris Ostrovsky <boris.ostrovsky@...cle.com>,
	David Vrabel <david.vrabel@...rix.com>,
	Jeremy Fitzhardinge <jeremy@...p.org>,
	Chris Wright <chrisw@...s-sol.org>,
	Alok Kataria <akataria@...are.com>,
	Rusty Russell <rusty@...tcorp.com.au>,
	Herbert Xu <herbert@...dor.apana.org.au>,
	"David S. Miller" <davem@...emloft.net>,
	Pavel Machek <pavel@....cz>,
	"Rafael J. Wysocki" <rjw@...ysocki.net>,
	Len Brown <len.brown@...el.com>,
	Matt Fleming <matt.fleming@...el.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH v11 00/20] Compile-time stack validation

On Wed, Aug 26, 2015 at 09:07:23AM +0200, Ingo Molnar wrote:
> 
> * Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@...hat.com> wrote:
> 
> > BTW, since I'm planning on adding a CFI generation option to this tool, I wonder 
> > if "stackvalidate" is a misnomer.  I can't think of anything better.  Any naming 
> > ideas are welcome :-)
> 
> I'd suggest 'debuginfo' and a Git-alike set of subcommands:
> 
>    debuginfo help
>    debuginfo check
>    debuginfo check framepointers
>    debuginfo check cfi
> 
> Such a command scheme keeps open various future commands, such as:
> 
>    debuginfo show
>    debuginfo size
>    debuginfo compress
>    debuginfo strip
> 
> etc.
> 
> I also checked that there does not appear to be such a Linux tool with such a name 
> at the moment.

My feeling is that the subcommand model wouldn't fit this tool very
well.  Its core functionality is to analyze code paths -- which it does
in a single pass, regardless of whether it's checking frame pointers,
checking CFI, generating CFI, or some combination.  Splitting it up into
subcommands would mean having to repeat the same code analysis pass
multiple times unnecessarily.

Also, since it's really focused on stack-related code path analysis, I
wouldn't expect it to be branching out into other debuginfo-related
tasks.

As far as naming goes, "debuginfo" usually refers to DWARF metadata.
But this tool isn't DWARF-specific, so that would be confusing IMO.  I
also agree with Jiri that re-using a generic name which already has
another meaning would add to the confusion.

The goal of this tool is to fix stack traces, so how about "stackfix"?

usage: stackfix [options] <file.o>
	-f, --frame-pointers	Validate frame pointer usage
	-c, --cfi		Validate CFI if it exists
	-g, --cfi-gen		Generate CFI if it doesn't already exist

The options could all be combinable.

-- 
Josh
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