linux-kernel - Re: Closed source userspace graphics drivers with an open source kernel component

lists.openwall.net		lists / announce owl-users owl-dev john-users john-dev passwdqc-users yescrypt popa3d-users / oss-security kernel-hardening musl sabotage tlsify passwords / crypt-dev xvendor / Bugtraq Full-Disclosure linux-kernel linux-netdev linux-ext4 linux-hardening linux-cve-announce PHC
Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Hash Suite: Windows password security audit tool. GUI, reports in PDF.

[<prev] [next>] [<thread-prev] [thread-next>] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Message-Id: <131ED6E6-9BAB-4BAC-A795-889C765C35F6@mit.edu>
Date:	Sun, 4 Jul 2010 07:03:22 -0400
From:	Theodore Tso <tytso@....EDU>
To:	Dave Airlie <airlied@...il.com>
Cc:	Magnus Wendt <magnus.wendt@...il.com>,
	Luc Verhaegen <libv@...net.be>,
	LKML <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	dri-devel <dri-devel@...ts.freedesktop.org>
Subject: Re: Closed source userspace graphics drivers with an open source  kernel component

On Jul 4, 2010, at 3:27 AM, Dave Airlie wrote:

> So its as crap as the others since the kernel space is uninteresting
> and doesn't give you any idea how to actually use the GPU, its just a
> slightly intelligent shim which transfers command streams and
> interrupt to/from gpu/userspace.
> 
> Its like having an ELF loader but no source to the compiler or linker,
> and saying the CPU is open.

We have sources to our web browsers but not to the a number of the
various web services that the browsers talk to (GMail, AIM, Gmane, 
Yahoo Finance, Google Search, etc.).    

And we have the sources to the Intel wireless drivers, but not to the
firmware, and that's not necessarily considered a horrendous thing.  

And we generally consider our laptops to be open even though
we don't have access to the BIOS or the SMBIOS, which can
interrupt the OS at any time, potentially for milliseconds at a time.

So the world isn't quite as black  and white as you would make things
out to be...

-- Ted

--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@...r.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/