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

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Date:   Tue, 8 Jan 2019 01:08:54 +0100
From:   Jonathan Neuschäfer <j.neuschaefer@....net>
To:     Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
Cc:     Jonathan Neuschäfer <j.neuschaefer@....net>,
        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 07, 2019 at 10:10:31AM -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> 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 don't run any such old software, so I don't have a strong opinion
here; I just sent this patch because I knew UNAME26 version strings
would jump back without it.

> 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?

Correct.
(Well, it's 2.6, not 2.4, but yes)

> 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.

Good point, I guess that's a valid appraoch.



Jonathan Neuschäfer

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