Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S264772AbUD1NFZ (ORCPT ); Wed, 28 Apr 2004 09:05:25 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S264773AbUD1NFY (ORCPT ); Wed, 28 Apr 2004 09:05:24 -0400 Received: from mx1.actcom.co.il ([192.114.47.13]:36520 "EHLO smtp1.actcom.co.il") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S264772AbUD1NFO (ORCPT ); Wed, 28 Apr 2004 09:05:14 -0400 Date: Wed, 28 Apr 2004 16:04:02 +0300 From: Muli Ben-Yehuda To: =?iso-8859-1?Q?M=E5ns_Rullg=E5rd?= Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: What does tainting actually mean? Message-ID: <20040428130402.GB9820@mulix.org> References: <20040428042742.GA1177@middle.of.nowhere> <408F3EE4.1080603@nortelnetworks.com> <20040428121009.GA2844@thunk.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="7ZAtKRhVyVSsbBD2" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.5.1+cvs20040105i Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1604 Lines: 47 --7ZAtKRhVyVSsbBD2 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Wed, Apr 28, 2004 at 02:48:30PM +0200, M=E5ns Rullg=E5rd wrote: > > Stack overflows in a badly written device driver can overwrite task > > structures and cause apparent filesystem problems which are blamed on > > the hapless filesystem authors instead of where the blame properly > > lies, namely the device driver author. >=20 > Wouldn't the problem be just as difficult to pin to a certain module > even if the source code was open? I prefer open source modules (I > have Alpha machines), but I just can't see this argument work. No. If the code is open, you can read it and find the bug - just by reading it. If the code is closed, your only recourse is to observe the corruption while it happens or read the assembly, which is quite a lot more difficult.=20 Cheers,=20 Muli --=20 Muli Ben-Yehuda http://www.mulix.org | http://mulix.livejournal.com/ --7ZAtKRhVyVSsbBD2 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: Digital signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFAj6vBKRs727/VN8sRAgXmAKCDLLW4i2vwPpsENVoHNVpP1RJa6gCfZ349 z/LudfWLbpvJJ7nDyBVHmtw= =gH1t -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --7ZAtKRhVyVSsbBD2-- - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/