linux-kernel - Re: Should we automatically generate a module signing key at all?

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Message-ID: <CA+55aFyOCh=+xSzZwWBjFbx5hU48pGEoSSXq2TPa-u-VabJfOQ@mail.gmail.com>
Date:	Mon, 18 May 2015 09:20:33 -0700
From:	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
To:	David Howells <dhowells@...hat.com>
Cc:	Michal Marek <mmarek@...e.cz>,
	David Woodhouse <dwmw2@...radead.org>,
	Abelardo Ricart III <aricart@...nix.com>,
	Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	Sedat Dilek <sedat.dilek@...il.com>, keyrings@...ux-nfs.org,
	Rusty Russell <rusty@...tcorp.com.au>,
	LSM List <linux-security-module@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: Should we automatically generate a module signing key at all?

On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 9:04 AM, David Howells <dhowells@...hat.com> wrote:
>
> Should we instead provide a script:
>
>         ./scripts/generate-key
>
> That generates a key if run and make it so that the build fails if you turn on
> module signing and there's no key.

That would just be stupid.

I'm not ever applying a patch like that. That would absolutely destroy
the sane "git clean + rebuild" model.

Why the hell would you want to make the sane case that people actually
*use* be harder to use.

Nobody sane bothers with long-term keys. They are inconvenient and less secure.

Put the onus on making it inconvenient on those people who actually
have special keys, not on normal people.

                   Linus
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