linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] kernel/sys.c: Fix UNAME26 for 5.0

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Date:   Mon, 7 Jan 2019 10:10:31 -0800
From:   Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
To:     Jonathan Neuschäfer <j.neuschaefer@....net>
Cc:     Linux List Kernel Mailing <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
        Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>,
        Dominik Brodowski <linux@...inikbrodowski.net>,
        Cyrill Gorcunov <gorcunov@...il.com>,
        Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
        YueHaibing <yuehaibing@...wei.com>,
        Arnd Bergmann <arnd@...db.de>,
        "Gustavo A. R. Silva" <gustavo@...eddedor.com>,
        Jann Horn <jannh@...gle.com>, Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] kernel/sys.c: Fix UNAME26 for 5.0

On Mon, Jan 7, 2019 at 10:03 AM Jonathan Neuschäfer
<j.neuschaefer@....net> wrote:
>
> UNAME26 is a mechanism to report Linux's version as 2.6.x, for
> compatibility with old/broken software. Because of the way it is
> implemented, it needs to be adjusted to handle version 5.0.

Do we actually need this?

I'd rather let it bitrot, and just let it return random versions. It
will just start again at 2.4.60, won't it?

Anybody who uses UNAME26 for a 5.x kernel might as well think it's
still 4.x. The user space is so old that it can't possibly care about
differences between 4.x and 5.x, can it?

The only thing that matters is that it shows "2.4.<largeenough>",
which it will do regardless.

                Linus