Re: [Y2038] [PATCH v5 2/5] vfs: Add checks for filesystem timestamp limits

From: Linus Torvalds
Date: Tue Apr 25 2017 - 16:36:13 EST


On Tue, Apr 25, 2017 at 1:31 PM, Arnd Bergmann <arnd@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Would it be ok to have a simple way of removing the time_t definition (e.g.
> by passing '-DREQUIRE_TIME64' to the compiler, but without the Kconfig
> option? That way, someone who wants to ship a product can at least
> find the obvious dependencies on stuff that remains broken.

How would you find them?

People don't necessarily use "time_t". They might use "int" or whatever.

There is absolutely zero point to making this some kind of crazy
config option, because such an option will prove absolutely *NOTHING*.

Seriously. This whole concept is completely stupid.

The only possible thing you can do is to

(a) have an actual test-suite
(b) set the time to 32+ bits
(c) see what breaks

because otherwise it seems entirely pointless.

And no, we're not adding random crazy source modifications for pointless crap.

Linus