Re: [oss-security] [patch] proc.5: tell how to parse /proc/*/stat correctly

Demi Marie Obenour
2022-12-28T16:53:26Z

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On Wed, Dec 28, 2022 at 10:24:58AM -0500, Shawn Webb wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 04:44:49PM -0800, Lyndon Nerenberg (VE7TFX/VE6BBM) wrote:
> > Dominique Martinet writes:
> >
> > > But, really, I just don't see how this can practically be said to be parsable...
> >
> > In its current form it never will be. The solution is to place
> > this variable-length field last. Then you can "cut -d ' ' -f 51-"
> > to get the command+args part (assuming I counted all those fields
> > correctly ...)
> >
> > Of course, this breaks backwards compatability.
>
> It would also break forwards compatibility in the case new fields
> needed to be added.
>
> The only solution would be a libxo-style feature wherein a
> machine-parseable format is exposed by virtue of a file extension.
>
> Examples:
>
> 1. /proc/pid/stats.json
> 2. /proc/pid/stats.xml
> 3. /proc/pid/stats.yaml_shouldnt_be_a_thing

A binary format would be even better. No risk of ambiguity.
--
Sincerely,
Demi Marie Obenour (she/her/hers)
Invisible Things Lab

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