Re: [RFC][PATCH 2/2] binfmt_elf: FatELF support for kernelmodules.

From: Ryan C. Gordon
Date: Fri Oct 23 2009 - 20:31:24 EST




On Fri, 23 Oct 2009, Jeremy Fitzhardinge wrote:

> Any open source driver should be encouraged to be merged with mainline
> Linux so there's no need to distribute them separately. With the
> staging/ tree, that's easier than ever.

Yes, absolutely. I agree.

But even for mainline drivers, there's a compelling use-case for this,
even for a Linux distribution that's 100% Free Software.

Those that want to play outside the sandbox still have all the misery of
having to keep up with kernel interface changes and supporting multiple
kernel releases. That's the hard part for them, and I'm happy to continue
to make it uncomfortable in that regard. How the kernel module gets loaded
is probably not of great importance compared to the engineering resources
they probably devote to just keeping up.

> Well, ideally a fat module would allow modules for multiple kernels to
> be bundled together (same and/or different architectures), which is
> primarily useful for 3rd-party binary distributions.

If the OSABI version doesn't change, they can't use FatELF to pack
together multiple drivers for different kernel versions. fatelf-glue
refuses to merge them, and the kernel will pick the first one, and if it
fails to load, tough luck.

I think this should resolve the concern from a technical standpoint. They
still have the same problems.

--ryan.

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