linux-hardening - What is the oldest perl version being used with the kernel ? update oldest supported to 5.14 ?

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Message-ID: <37ec9a36a5f7c71a8e23ab45fd3b7f20efd5da24.camel@perches.com>
Date:   Fri, 20 Aug 2021 10:27:59 -0700
From:   Joe Perches <joe@...ches.com>
To:     LKML <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Cc:     Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@...ux.intel.com>,
        Matthew Wilcox <willy@...radead.org>,
        Dwaipayan Ray <dwaipayanray1@...il.com>,
        LukasBulwahn <lukas.bulwahn@...il.com>,
        linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, devicetree@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-kbuild@...r.kernel.org, linux-hardening@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-riscv@...ts.infradead.org, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-csky@...r.kernel.org
Subject: What is the oldest perl version being used with the kernel ? update
 oldest supported to 5.14 ?

Perl 5.8 is nearly 20 years old now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perl_5_version_history

checkpatch uses regexes that are incompatible with perl versions
earlier than 5.10, but these uses are currently runtime checked
and skipped if the perl version is too old.  This runtime checking
skips several useful tests.

There is also some desire for tools like kernel-doc, checkpatch and
get_maintainer to use a common library of regexes and functions:
https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/YR2lexDd9N0sWxIW@casper.infradead.org/

It'd be useful to set the minimum perl version to something more modern.

I believe perl 5.14, now only a decade old, is a reasonable target.

Any objections or suggestions for a newer minimum version?