Re: [PATCH v43 01/15] Linux Random Number Generator

[Stephan Mueller]

Am Freitag, 26. November 2021, 16:44:17 CET schrieb Greg Kroah-Hartman:

Hi Greg,

> On Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 09:59:01AM -0500, Simo Sorce wrote:
> > Jason,
> > have you previously produced a list of reasoned concerns with this
> > patchset and direction?
> > 
> > This specific email is not really useful to me to understand the
> > concerns as it does not contain actionable suggestion or critique.
> > 
> > I personally find the direction fine, and with my distribution hat on I
> > can say that FIPS is essential for us and any design must include an
> > option to be FIPS certifiable.
> > 
> > As NIST keeps improving their testing capabilities and rigorous
> > cryptographic design of the CSPRNGs as well as entropy sources the
> > kernel must also adapt.
> > 
> > Stephan is providing a path forward, and I haven't seen any other
> > proposal, let alone code, that provide improvements in this area.
> > I am pretty sure the design can be improved if there is detailed and
> > actionable feedback on what to change.
> > 
> > I hope the path forward can be one of collaboration rather then mere
> > opposition.
> 
> Replacement of the existing code to cut over to the new one is not
> collaboration, it's the exact opposite.
> 
> Submitting patches to the existing codebase to implement the
> "requirements" is the proper way forward, why has that never been done.

It has been attempted by Nikolai Stange without avail - no comments were 
received, let alone it was integrated.
> 
> Remember, evolution is the correct way of kernel development, not
> intelligent design :)
> 
> thanks,
> 
> greg k-h


Ciao
Stephan