Survey: Linux kernel quality [LWN.net]

Survey: Linux kernel quality

Posted Jul 10, 2006 16:54 UTC (Mon) by Lovechild (guest, #3592)
Parent article: Survey: Linux kernel quality

For me, running Fedora Development I find that most bugs get solved quickly, however a "security" update to the SCSI drivers disallowed users to burn DVD/CDs and despite reporting this many months ago and offering up a reward for a viable fix this has still not be resolved.

I take it the developers feel that I couldn't be trusted to not fuck up my DVD burner so it got disabled all together.

Aside that one issue and the fact that Reiser4 has yet to be merged (which would cause considerable less frustration amongst the users I talk to), I find the new kernel development methodology much more pleasing as a user.

The fact that I no longer have to wait 2 years for an unstable kernel tree to stabilise to the point where it can be considered "stable" but really isn't for several releases to come, due to lack of testing is brilliant.

The kernel has definately improved in both stability and functionality. Take the .17 release, coupled with updates to mesa and x.org I finally have working stable hardware acceleration using the r300 driver.

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Survey: Linux kernel quality

Posted Jul 11, 2006 3:58 UTC (Tue) by Lovechild (guest, #3592) [Link]

I think you misunderstood me, it's not that I'm annoyed they are keeping me safe. In fact one of the primary reasons I use Fedora, because they work to keep me safe.

Anyways, what I meant was that FC4 burned CDs for me (and about 20 other people who CC'ed on the bug), FC5 shipped without the ability and a solution was discussed, as I cannot burn CDs nor code the solution up, I offered up 100USD (I'm hoping others will pledge as well but even a little has to count) for an acceptable solution. This being the only longterm bug I've experienced in about 2 years, I'm very pleased with, and grateful for, the Linux kernel.

However I think functionality regressions are bad things in all but a few cases.

I hope it gets fixed shortly since it's preventing a personal deployment.

Survey: Linux kernel quality

Posted Jul 11, 2006 9:27 UTC (Tue) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link]

Hang on, you can't even burn CDs as root?

That's odd. I guess it's a bug :)

CD burning

Posted Jul 11, 2006 22:27 UTC (Tue) by dlang (✭ supporter ✭, #313) [Link]

as noted above, the vunerability was that anyone on the system could send commands to any drive to do anything to it (completely defeating security, along with potentially destroying the hardware)

the change was to eliminate this capability for non-root users (root is allowed to destroy your hardware :-)

the fix for non-root users is to set your burning software suid root. then it runs as root and is allowed to do whatever it wants.

what more are you looking for?

there has been talk about creating filters in the kernel that would allow burning specific commands but not allow other 'dangerous' commands, but nobody who is willing to talk knows what commands are nessasary (this is made even more difficult by the fact that some of the nessasary commands and the dangerous commands are, in fact, the same command with different parameters)

David Lang