sockaddr used in the kernel?

Posted Nov 10, 2024 21:18 UTC (Sun) by smurf (subscriber, #17840)
In reply to: sockaddr used in the kernel? by johill
Parent article: The trouble with struct sockaddr's fake flexible array

Ah, so ioctls for the IPv4 ARP table, legacy routing, and similar stuff that frankly I'd deprecate in a heartbeat. Does anybody (except /sbin/arp AFAICT) still not use netlink for that, these days?

Oh well.

sockaddr used in the kernel?

Posted Nov 10, 2024 21:32 UTC (Sun) by johill (subscriber, #25196) [Link] (3 responses)

A surprisingly large number of tools still use(d) wext, but I'm kicking them out - WiFi7 hardware no longer supports wext in any way. Let's see if I can win that fight ...

sockaddr used in the kernel?

Posted Nov 11, 2024 9:21 UTC (Mon) by Sesse (subscriber, #53779) [Link] (2 responses)

I'd happily switch to iw, except… I really like the output of iwconfig and iwlist? I don't understand why we need to couple API changes with how a CLI works (especially when said CLI moves more towards the needs of low-level expert users).

sockaddr used in the kernel?

Posted Nov 11, 2024 10:36 UTC (Mon) by mb (subscriber, #50428) [Link] (1 responses)

cfg80211 has always included a wireless-extensions API emulation to keep iwconfig and lwlist working.
So it's exactly the opposite of what you say: The fundamental API has changed, but the obsolete CLI and its obsolete API have not.
So, if almost two decades is not enough for you to adapt to the "new" iw CLI, then you can keep using iwconfig/iwlist.

sockaddr used in the kernel?

Posted Nov 11, 2024 12:34 UTC (Mon) by johill (subscriber, #25196) [Link]

Well, no, as I said - I'm removing that part too now for WiFi7 hardware. There are some technical reasons for that even.

As for the question about why it "must" be coupled with changes in the CLI, well ... it doesn't really need to be, but when writing a completely new tool that for the most part has completely new semantics, keeping the CLI intact really isn't the first priority.

If you want to submit patches to make 'iw' have a mode where it behaves like iwconfig/iwlist for a subset of functionality, I guess I'd even apply them if they're reasonably well implemented.

But you can keep using it for eternity, for all I care, just don't expect new hardware support etc., and then you can just keep using an old kernel version too.