Re: [PATCH v2] exec: make printable macro more concise

[Al Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk>]

On Sat, Nov 16, 2024 at 05:23:01PM +0000, Nir Lichtman wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 16, 2024 at 08:49:39AM -0800, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> > On Fri, 15 Nov 2024 at 23:28, Al Viro <viro@zeniv.linux.org.uk> wrote:
> > >
> > > Now, whether that logics makes sense is a separate story;
> > > that's before my time (1.3.60), so...
> > 
> [...]
> > 
> > Anyway, the fs/exec.c "printable()" code most definitely shouldn't use
> > the ctype stuff. I'm not sure it should exist at all, and if it should
> > exist it probably should be renamed. Because it has *nothing* to do
> > with "isprint()".
> > 
> [...]
> > 
> > Anyway, a.out support is dead, so I think this code is pure historical
> > leftovers and should be removed.
> > 
> >            Linus
> 
> Thanks for answering Al and Linus.
> Al, continuing forward, to work on a new version of the patch removing the
> support for dynamically loading binfmt kernel modules or you'll take it
> from here?

Just kill it off, since you are poking in the area anyway...  No point
coordinating patches, etc. - removal is completely straightforward,
with something along the lines of "that was an ancient leftover from
a.out-to-ELF transition, left without a single valid use after removal
of a.out support; anyone who might find future uses for it (currently
there's none) would be better off using binfmt_misc to trigger whatever
module loading they might need - would be more flexible that way"