Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-11 Thread Florian Weimer
* Marc Haber:

> On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:52:59PM +0100, Thiemo Seufer wrote:
>> Cherrypicking makes little sense, because there are only cherries. :-)
>
> For my systems, I care about security holes being fixed, but I do not
> care about some obscure video hardware, or additional features. So
> "Cherry" is relative.

Fix upstream's security process, or use vendor kernels.


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Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-11 Thread Marc Haber
On Tue, Jan 11, 2005 at 10:25:37AM +0100, Florian Weimer wrote:
> * Marc Haber:
> > On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:52:59PM +0100, Thiemo Seufer wrote:
> >> Cherrypicking makes little sense, because there are only cherries. :-)
> >
> > For my systems, I care about security holes being fixed, but I do not
> > care about some obscure video hardware, or additional features. So
> > "Cherry" is relative.
> 
> Fix upstream's security process,

Broken beyond repair, IMO.

> or use vendor kernels.

Which is what I am trying to do. Debian is a vendor.

Greetings
Marc

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Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-13 Thread Florian Weimer
* Marc Haber:

> On Tue, Jan 11, 2005 at 10:25:37AM +0100, Florian Weimer wrote:
>> * Marc Haber:
>> > On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:52:59PM +0100, Thiemo Seufer wrote:
>> >> Cherrypicking makes little sense, because there are only cherries. :-)
>> >
>> > For my systems, I care about security holes being fixed, but I do not
>> > care about some obscure video hardware, or additional features. So
>> > "Cherry" is relative.
>> 
>> Fix upstream's security process,
>
> Broken beyond repair, IMO.

There's a discussion on linux-kernel right now...


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Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Thiemo Seufer
Marc Haber wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> A few months ago, I asked on this list for more informative
> description of patches enabling non-kernel hackers to choose
> individual patchsets for their local kernels. Unfortunately, that
> question was denied pretty fast. Looks like you guys don't have time
> to write more extensive docs.
[snip]
> I would like to solicit your comments about this concept.

I think the effort to do so is better invested elsewhere. As a
general rule, the kernel team strives to keep the debian-specific
patches to a minimum. For people without in-depth kernel knowledge
it's probably best to take the full set of patches and add their
own (feature- ?) patches on top.


Thiemo




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Christoph Hellwig
On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 07:40:06PM +0100, Thiemo Seufer wrote:
> I think the effort to do so is better invested elsewhere. As a
> general rule, the kernel team strives to keep the debian-specific
> patches to a minimum. For people without in-depth kernel knowledge
> it's probably best to take the full set of patches and add their
> own (feature- ?) patches on top.

Agreed. The package is not a repository for cherrypicking patches
but intended to used as a whole thing.




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Marc Haber
On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 07:40:06PM +0100, Thiemo Seufer wrote:
> I think the effort to do so is better invested elsewhere. As a
> general rule, the kernel team strives to keep the debian-specific
> patches to a minimum. For people without in-depth kernel knowledge
> it's probably best to take the full set of patches and add their
> own (feature- ?) patches on top.

Actually, the kernel of my dreams is more near to the vanilla
kernel.org kernel, so I'd like to be able to throw out patches that
you need to apply because of your _much_ broader user base.

otoh, I would like to run a 2.6.10 kernel _now_ and cannot take the
distribution kernel because it is still stuck in NEW. It is adviseable
to take a snapshot from the Debian kernel svn?

And, without trolling, I'd like to build my local kernels from sources
that haven't had drivers removed because of non-free licenses.

Greetings
Marc

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Marc Haber | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header
Mannheim, Germany  |  lose things."Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834
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Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Marc Haber
On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:25:33PM +0100, Christoph Hellwig wrote:
> Agreed. The package is not a repository for cherrypicking patches
> but intended to used as a whole thing.

I am pretty disappointed about that attitude towards your users. What
exactly is the problem with a little more docs to _allow_ cherrypicking?

Greetings
Marc

-- 
-
Marc Haber | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header
Mannheim, Germany  |  lose things."Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834
Nordisch by Nature |  How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Matthew Wilcox
On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:33:51PM +0100, Marc Haber wrote:
> Actually, the kernel of my dreams is more near to the vanilla
> kernel.org kernel, so I'd like to be able to throw out patches that
> you need to apply because of your _much_ broader user base.
> 
> otoh, I would like to run a 2.6.10 kernel _now_ and cannot take the
> distribution kernel because it is still stuck in NEW. It is adviseable
> to take a snapshot from the Debian kernel svn?
> 
> And, without trolling, I'd like to build my local kernels from sources
> that haven't had drivers removed because of non-free licenses.

I think only one of my machines is running a Debian-built kernel.  Debian
is much more forgiving of using a stock kernel than some other distributions.

-- 
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the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those
conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse
to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince 
himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep 
he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception." -- Mark Twain




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Marc Haber
On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 07:36:47PM +, Matthew Wilcox wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:33:51PM +0100, Marc Haber wrote:
> > Actually, the kernel of my dreams is more near to the vanilla
> > kernel.org kernel, so I'd like to be able to throw out patches that
> > you need to apply because of your _much_ broader user base.
> > 
> > otoh, I would like to run a 2.6.10 kernel _now_ and cannot take the
> > distribution kernel because it is still stuck in NEW. It is adviseable
> > to take a snapshot from the Debian kernel svn?
> > 
> > And, without trolling, I'd like to build my local kernels from sources
> > that haven't had drivers removed because of non-free licenses.
> 
> I think only one of my machines is running a Debian-built kernel.  Debian
> is much more forgiving of using a stock kernel than some other distributions.

It definetely is, and it is exceptionally good in allowing usage of
infrastructure for local builds and installation as well.
kernel-package is one of the big advantages that has driven me to
Debian years ago.

Using infrastructure that makes individual patch files is a big step
forward as well as this enables people to individually choose their
patch sets.

The progress is impressive. What we need now are better docs, and a
few minor tweaks in the tools.

Greetings
Marc

-- 
-
Marc Haber | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header
Mannheim, Germany  |  lose things."Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834
Nordisch by Nature |  How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Thiemo Seufer
Marc Haber wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 07:40:06PM +0100, Thiemo Seufer wrote:
> > I think the effort to do so is better invested elsewhere. As a
> > general rule, the kernel team strives to keep the debian-specific
> > patches to a minimum. For people without in-depth kernel knowledge
> > it's probably best to take the full set of patches and add their
> > own (feature- ?) patches on top.
> 
> Actually, the kernel of my dreams is more near to the vanilla
> kernel.org kernel, so I'd like to be able to throw out patches that
> you need to apply because of your _much_ broader user base.

Well, then you need detailed knowledge about those patches in any case.
(If you know you don't use that code, why bother? The patch won't make
a difference for you.)

> otoh, I would like to run a 2.6.10 kernel _now_ and cannot take the
> distribution kernel because it is still stuck in NEW.

http://www.acm.rpi.edu/~dilinger/

> It is adviseable to take a snapshot from the Debian kernel svn?

You can use the appopriate SVN tag as well if you like.

> And, without trolling, I'd like to build my local kernels from sources
> that haven't had drivers removed because of non-free licenses.

Disable the purge script in the kernel-source source package.


Thiemo




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Thiemo Seufer
Marc Haber wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:25:33PM +0100, Christoph Hellwig wrote:
> > Agreed. The package is not a repository for cherrypicking patches
> > but intended to used as a whole thing.
> 
> I am pretty disappointed about that attitude towards your users. What
> exactly is the problem with a little more docs to _allow_ cherrypicking?

It generates work. The time is better used for pushing those patches
upstream.

Cherrypicking makes little sense, because there are only cherries. :-)


Thiemo




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Marc Haber
On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:52:59PM +0100, Thiemo Seufer wrote:
> Cherrypicking makes little sense, because there are only cherries. :-)

For my systems, I care about security holes being fixed, but I do not
care about some obscure video hardware, or additional features. So
"Cherry" is relative.

Greetings
Marc

-- 
-
Marc Haber | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header
Mannheim, Germany  |  lose things."Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834
Nordisch by Nature |  How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Andres Salomon
On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 20:41:41 +0100, Marc Haber wrote:

> On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:25:33PM +0100, Christoph Hellwig wrote:
>> Agreed. The package is not a repository for cherrypicking patches
>> but intended to used as a whole thing.
> 
> I am pretty disappointed about that attitude towards your users. What
> exactly is the problem with a little more docs to _allow_ cherrypicking?
> 
> Greetings
> Marc

A large problem with this is that patches in our -source packages assume a
certain order.  A patch may depend upon another patch; removing one breaks
the other.  We have this problem when cherry-picking changes from
bitkeeper; I'd imagine it gets even worse when you attempt to pick changes
from -source packages.






Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Marc Haber
On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 03:56:48PM -0500, Andres Salomon wrote:
> On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 20:41:41 +0100, Marc Haber wrote:
> > On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 08:25:33PM +0100, Christoph Hellwig wrote:
> >> Agreed. The package is not a repository for cherrypicking patches
> >> but intended to used as a whole thing.
> > 
> > I am pretty disappointed about that attitude towards your users. What
> > exactly is the problem with a little more docs to _allow_ cherrypicking?
> > 
> > Greetings
> > Marc
> 
> A large problem with this is that patches in our -source packages assume a
> certain order.  A patch may depend upon another patch; removing one breaks
> the other.  We have this problem when cherry-picking changes from
> bitkeeper; I'd imagine it gets even worse when you attempt to pick changes
> from -source packages.

Choosing a working patchset would be the responsibility of the picking
user, no work on your side involved.

Greetings
Marc

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-
Marc Haber | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header
Mannheim, Germany  |  lose things."Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834
Nordisch by Nature |  How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835




Re: Classification scheme for 2.6 kernel patches

2005-01-09 Thread Andres Salomon
On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 19:01:38 +0100, Marc Haber wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> A few months ago, I asked on this list for more informative
> description of patches enabling non-kernel hackers to choose
> individual patchsets for their local kernels. Unfortunately, that
> question was denied pretty fast. Looks like you guys don't have time
> to write more extensive docs.
> 
> cleanup: Cosmetic change

Shouldn't be in Debian kernels.

> bugfix: Fixes a bug that might result in errant behavior

This applies to pretty much every patch.  Even feature additions are
usually fixing bugs of the type "machine XYZ doesn't boot!" or "I
can't use my network card with your kernel"

> crashfix: Fixes a bug that might result in a kernel crash
> oopsfix: Fixes a bug that might result in a kernel oops
> build: Fixes a build time issue

Not worth classifying the differences, imo.  Something that might crash
one machine might oops on another; it depends on hardware, what the kernel
config is, etc.  Build problems are the most clear-cut on this list, but 
I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to include them.  There's also
warning build fixes, which might be necessary (if the code in question
causes an oops/crash), or might simply be to shut the compiler up.

> feature: Adds a new feature

Aside from non-x86 stuff, we try to avoid these.  Some archs need them
for basic hardware; in which case, they could easily be considered a bugfix.
The general rule is, if it's not needed to boot/install, it should be in
a separate kernel-patch package.

> maybe-security: Fixes an issue that might pose a security problem

Pretty much any bugfix is possibly a security hole that no one's
figured out how to exploit yet.  This is just another name for "bugfix".

> security: Fixes a sure security problem

We already try to use this one.

> license: Patch accompanying driver removal due to license issues

I believe we have exactly 1 patch (tg3-readd) that would be classified
as this.  That patch needs to go away, as well, as it's a hassle to
maintain.

> documentation: Documentation patch only

I would think this would be easy enough to determine simply by
looking at the patch?  We don't really have too many of these to
begin with.

> patchfix: fixes a bug introduced by some other patch

When you end up with a large number of patches, this becomes quite
an annoyance.  

> 
> Architecture-specific tags do not seem to be necessary as architecture
> specific patches have the architecture in their file name.
> 
> To locate possible problems with the classification, I have tried to
> roughly classify the patches from current 2.6.10 svn:
> 
> x86-i486_emu.dpatch   feature
> tty-locking-fixes9.dpatch bugfix
> sparc64-hme-lockup.dpatch bugfix
> sparc32-initrd-memcpy.dpatch  bugfix
> smbfs-overflow-fixes.dpatch   maybe-security
> smbfs-overflow-fixes-2.dpatch maybe-security
> sec_brk-locked.dpatch security
> remove-references-to-removed-drivers.dpatch   license
> powerpc-serial.dpatch bugfix
> powerpc-pegasos-via82cxxx.dpatch  bugfix
> powerpc-pegasos-2.dpatch  feature
> powerpc-g4-l2-flush-errata.dpatch bugfix
> modular-vesafb.dpatch feature
> modular-vesafb-2.dpatch   feature
> modular-ide.dpatchbugfix
> modular-ide-pnp.dpatchfeature
> modular-ide-2.dpatch  feature
> marvell-pegasos.dpatchfeature
> ia64-irq-affinity-upfix.dpatchbuild
> ia64-generic-no-smp.dpatchbuild
> ia64-generic-no-smp-1-to-2.dpatch build
> ia64-bte_error-missing-include.dpatch build
> fs-asfs.dpatchfeature
> fix-mxser-compile.dpatch  build
> drm-locking-fixes.dpatch  crashfix
> drivers-scsi_changer.dpatch   feature
> drivers-net-tg3-readd.dpatch  license
> drivers-net-8139too-locking.dpatchcrashfix
> drivers-input-psaux-hacks.dpatch  feature
> drivers-ide-dma-blacklist-toshiba.dpatch  bugfix
> drivers-ide-__devinit.dpatch  cleanup
> doc-post_halloween.dpatch documentation
> alsa-module-load-fix.dpatch   crashfix
> 032-do_brk_security_fixes.dpatch  security
> 031-sg_scsi_ioctl_int_overflows.dpatchsecurity
> 030-moxa_user_copy_checking.dpatchsecurity
> 029-random_poolsize_overflow.dpatch   security
> 028-do_brk_security_fixes.dpatch  security
> 027-track_dummy_capability-2.dpatch   cleanup

This actually fixes 025.  It could be considered security, or
cleanup, or patchfix.  Kind of hard to classify it with o