Re: [PATCH v2 2/4] powerpc/rtas: make all exports GPL

[Andrew Donnellan <ajd@linux.ibm.com>]

On Tue, 2023-01-24 at 08:04 -0600, Nathan Lynch wrote:
> The first symbol exports of RTAS functions and data came with the
> (now
> removed) scanlog driver in 2003:
> 
> https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tglx/history.git/commit/?id=f92e361842d5251e50562b09664082dcbd0548bb
> 
> At the time this was applied, EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL() was very new, and
> the exports of rtas_call() etc have remained non-GPL. As new APIs
> have
> been added to the RTAS subsystem, their symbol exports have followed
> the convention set by existing code.
> 
> However, the historical evidence is that RTAS function exports have
> been added over time only to satisfy the needs of in-kernel users,
> and
> these clients must have fairly intimate knowledge of how the APIs
> work
> to use them safely. No out of tree users are known, and future ones
> seem unlikely.
> 
> Arguably the default for RTAS symbols should have become
> EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL once it was available. Let's make it so now, and
> exceptions can be evaluated as needed.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Nathan Lynch <nathanl@linux.ibm.com>

Agreed.

Reviewed-by: Andrew Donnellan <ajd@linux.ibm.com>


-- 
Andrew Donnellan    OzLabs, ADL Canberra
ajd@linux.ibm.com   IBM Australia Limited