linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 1/2] add helper for highmem checks

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Message-ID: <20130211230003.GG2683@pd.tnic>
Date:	Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:03 +0100
From:	Borislav Petkov <bp@...en8.de>
To:	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>
Cc:	Dave Hansen <dave@...ux.vnet.ibm.com>,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-mm@...ck.org, mingo@...nel.org,
	tglx@...utronix.de
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/2] add helper for highmem checks

On Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 02:46:43PM -0800, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
> The X server itself used to do that. Are you saying that wdm is a
> *privileged process*?

Nah, it is a simple display manager you start with /etc/init.d/wdm init
script. Like the other display managers gdm, kdm, etc.

But it looks like wdm has copied stuff from xdm (from the README):

"Wdm is a modification of XFree86's xdm package for graphically handling
authentication and system login. Most of xdm has been preserved (XFree86
4.2.1.1) with the Login interface based on a WINGs implementation using
Tom Rothamel's "external greet" interface (see AUTHORS)."

And from looking at the part in the source which does the /dev/mem
accesses, it comes from XFree86's source apparently, this is at the
beginning of src/wdm/genauth.c:

/* $Xorg: genauth.c,v 1.5 2001/02/09 02:05:40 xorgcvs Exp $ */
/*

   Copyright 1988, 1998  The Open Group
...

so this explains why it behaves like the X server in that respect.

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

Sent from a fat crate under my desk. Formatting is fine.
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