linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v2 3/3] treewide: use get_random_u32

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Message-ID: <Y3ZWbcoGOdFjlPhS@mit.edu>
Date:   Thu, 17 Nov 2022 10:42:37 -0500
From:   "Theodore Ts'o" <tytso@....edu>
To:     Kees Cook <kees@...nel.org>
Cc:     "Jason A. Donenfeld" <Jason@...c4.com>,
        Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, patches@...ts.linux.dev,
        Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
        Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>,
        Russell King <linux@...linux.org.uk>,
        Catalin Marinas <catalin.marinas@....com>,
        Thomas Bogendoerfer <tsbogend@...ha.franken.de>,
        Heiko Carstens <hca@...ux.ibm.com>,
        Herbert Xu <herbert@...dor.apana.org.au>,
        Christoph Böhmwalder 
        <christoph.boehmwalder@...bit.com>,
        Jani Nikula <jani.nikula@...ux.intel.com>,
        Jason Gunthorpe <jgg@...dia.com>,
        Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@...ux.intel.com>,
        "Martin K . Petersen" <martin.petersen@...cle.com>,
        Andreas Dilger <adilger.kernel@...ger.ca>,
        Jaegeuk Kim <jaegeuk@...nel.org>,
        Richard Weinberger <richard@....at>,
        "Darrick J . Wong" <djwong@...nel.org>,
        SeongJae Park <sj@...nel.org>,
        Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>,
        Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
        Michael Ellerman <mpe@...erman.id.au>,
        Helge Deller <deller@....de>, netdev@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-crypto@...r.kernel.org, linux-block@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-fsdevel@...r.kernel.org, linux-media@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-arm-kernel@...ts.infradead.org, loongarch@...ts.linux.dev,
        linux-mips@...r.kernel.org, linuxppc-dev@...ts.ozlabs.org,
        linux-mmc@...r.kernel.org, linux-parisc@...r.kernel.org,
        ydroneaud@...eya.com
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 3/3] treewide: use get_random_u32_between() when
 possible

On Wed, Nov 16, 2022 at 04:47:27PM -0800, Kees Cook wrote:
> >> > - between
> >> > - ranged
> >> > - spanning
> >> > 
> >> > https://www.thefreedictionary.com/List-of-prepositions.htm
> >> > - amid
> >> > 
> >> > Sigh, names.
> >> 
> >> I think "inclusive" is best.
> >
> >I find it not very descriptive of what the function does. Is there one
> >you like second best? Or are you convinced they're all much much much
> >worse than "inclusive" that they shouldn't be considered?
> 
> Right, I don't think any are sufficiently descriptive. "Incluisve"
> with two arguments seems unambiguous and complete to me. :)

The problem with "between", "ranged", "spanning" is that they don't
tell the reader whether we're dealing with an "open interval" or a
"closed interval".  They are just different ways of saying that it's a
range between, say, 0 and 20.  But it doesn't tell you whether it
includes 0 or 20 or not.

The only way I can see for making it ambiguous is either to use the
terminology "closed interval" or "inclusive".  And "open" and "closed"
can have other meanings, so get_random_u32_inclusive() is going to be
less confusing than get_random_u32_closed().

Cheers,

					- Ted