linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v17 01/15] Add PR_{GET,SET}_NO_NEW_PRIVS to prevent execve from granting privs

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Message-ID: <CAKgNAkhhnC1+vdh7vTYKkngzxHccDwHH_aKF5wCNhga33BGhyQ@mail.gmail.com>
Date:	Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:31:16 +1200
From:	"Michael Kerrisk (man-pages)" <mtk.manpages@...il.com>
To:	Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>
Cc:	Andrew Lutomirski <luto@....edu>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Will Drewry <wad@...omium.org>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-security-module@...r.kernel.org, linux-arch@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, kernel-hardening@...ts.openwall.com,
	netdev@...r.kernel.org, x86@...nel.org, arnd@...db.de,
	davem@...emloft.net, hpa@...or.com, mingo@...hat.com,
	oleg@...hat.com, peterz@...radead.org, rdunlap@...otime.net,
	mcgrathr@...omium.org, tglx@...utronix.de, eparis@...hat.com,
	serge.hallyn@...onical.com, djm@...drot.org, scarybeasts@...il.com,
	indan@....nu, pmoore@...hat.com, eric.dumazet@...il.com,
	markus@...omium.org, coreyb@...ux.vnet.ibm.com,
	keescook@...omium.org, jmorris@...ei.org,
	Andy Lutomirski <luto@...capital.net>,
	linux-man@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v17 01/15] Add PR_{GET,SET}_NO_NEW_PRIVS to prevent execve
 from granting privs

On Sat, Apr 7, 2012 at 8:28 AM, Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net> wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Apr 2012 13:01:17 -0700
> Andrew Lutomirski <luto@....edu> wrote:
>
>> This has been bugging me for awhile.  Is there any interest in moving
>> the manpages into the kernel source tree?  Then there could be a
>> general requirement that new APIs get documented when they're written.
>
> Man page (or other documentation) requirements for patch acceptance are a
> regular kernel summit feature.  People seem to think it's a good idea, but
> actual enforcement of such requirements always seems to be lacking.  Lots
> of people have kind of given up trying.  I don't really see that adding
> the man pages to the tree would help, but I could be wrong...

I largely consider this (moving man pages to kernel.org) a technical
solution to what is fundamentally a social problem (developers
reluctant to write documentation), and doubt that the technical
solution would make much difference. I'd love to be proved wrong, but
the experiment would require significant start-up effort. (My
collected thoughts on this can be found here:
http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/todo.html#migrate_to_kernel_source.
Note the alternative idea of patch tags mentioned at the end of that
text.)

Unless, or until there's a paid maintainer, I don't expect things to
get significantly better than what they currently are. The quite
significant improvements in man-pages since 2004, when I became
maintainer were in small part due to the fact that I was for a short
period paid to do the work, but in much larger part due to a huge
private effort over those years which over the last couple of years is
no longer unsustainable for me (man-pages is in competition with
requirements for my attention from family, working life, and
(seriously!) seismic events),

Cheers,

Michael

-- 
Michael Kerrisk
Linux man-pages maintainer; http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/
Author of "The Linux Programming Interface"; http://man7.org/tlpi/
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