Re: [PATCH] x86: Remove a.out support

Theodore Ts'o
2022-01-14T18:58:17Z

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