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Date:   Fri, 14 Jan 2022 13:57:49 -0500
From:   "Theodore Ts'o" <tytso@mit.edu>
To:     Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@linux-m68k.org>
Cc:     Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>, X86 ML <x86@kernel.org>,
        Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>,
        Eric Biederman <ebiederm@xmission.com>,
        Kees Cook <keescook@chromium.org>,
        LKML <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] x86: Remove a.out support
Message-ID: <YeHHrb3RGYxARLCC@mit.edu>
References: <20220113160115.5375-1-bp@alien8.de>
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 <CAMuHMdUbTNNr16YY1TFe=-uRLjg6yGzgw_RqtAFpyhnOMM5Pvw@mail.gmail.com>
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On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 03:52:29PM +0100, Geert Uytterhoeven wrote:
> Hi Boris,
> 
> On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 3:36 PM Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de> wrote:
> > Btw, pls do note that this is removing only the x86 a.out support -
> > other arches (m68k and alpha) still select HAVE_AOUT and thus the
> > respective glue in fs/binfmt_aout.c
> 
> Quoting myself (do I need a canned response for this? ;-):
>    "I think it's safe to assume no one still runs a.out binaries on m68k."
> 
> https://lore.kernel.org/r/CAMuHMdVGT1QN8WUqNcU8ihPLncUGfrjV49wb-8nHUgHhOzLeNw@mail.gmail.com/
> https://lore.kernel.org/r/CAMuHMdW+m0Q+j3rsQdMXnrEPm+XB5Y2AQrxW5sD1mZAKgmEqoA@mail.gmail.com
> 
> Of course, m68k is not encumbered by a.out Netscape binaries, unlike
> ia32 and alpha ;-)

And Alpha's a.out Netscape binary is what required OSF/1 compatible
system calls, so if and when we ever can nuke a.out Alpha support, so
perhaps there might also be an opporunity to remove OSF/1
compatibility support...

						- Ted