From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S262580AbUEFPZt (ORCPT ); Thu, 6 May 2004 11:25:49 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S262606AbUEFPZs (ORCPT ); Thu, 6 May 2004 11:25:48 -0400 Received: from blacksun.leftmind.net ([204.225.93.62]:47378 "HELO blacksun.leftmind.net") by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id S262580AbUEFPZn (ORCPT ); Thu, 6 May 2004 11:25:43 -0400 Date: Thu, 6 May 2004 11:25:42 -0400 From: Anthony de Boer To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: What does tainting actually mean? Message-ID: <20040506112542.S15845@leftmind.net> References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: ; from ncunningham@linuxmail.org on Wed, Apr 28, 2004 at 02:00:35PM +1000 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Nigel Cunningham wrote: > What does tainting actually mean? It seems to schitzophrenically try to mean two things: on the one hand, it tries to flag GPL purity, and on the other hand it tries to indicate whether or not the module's source code is readily available to someone wanting to debug that kernel. This was brought home to me awhile ago; up through at least 2.4.18, net/ipv4/netfilter/ipchains_core.c said MODULE_LICENSE("BSD without advertisement clause"); and tainted the kernel with code in its own tarball. One must ask if BSD code for which you have the source in hand is an evil thing or not. Or how about something that's GPL but for which you can't readily lay hands on the source? The GPL predates the Web, and doesn't say you have to be able to Google for source; you might still have to pay the author the cost of shipping you a 9-track tape. Proposed: a MODULE_SOURCE string, containing either the path relative to the kernel directory, or a URL at which source can be found, and you can decline to debug a kernel if it has modules for which MODULE_SOURCE isn't given or doesn't lead you to the code. -- Anthony de Boer