Re: [PATCH] Delete cryptoloop

Dale Fountain
2004-07-22T06:14:03Z

Andrew Morton said:
> dpf-lkml@fountainbay.com wrote:
>>
>> Hopefully someone else will follow up, but I hope I'm somewhat
>> convincing:
>
> Not really ;)
>
> Your points can be simplified to "I don't use cryptoloop, but someone else
> might" and "we shouldn't do this in a stable kernel".
>

Well, you're incorrect about my not using cryptoloop. Sorry I wasn't
convincing enough. :)

> Well, I want to hear from "someone else". If removing cryptoloop will
> irritate five people, well, sorry. If it's 5,000 people, well maybe not.
>

I don't think you'll get 5000 replies... about anything. ;)

> Yes, I buy the "stable kernel" principle, but here we have an example
> where
> it conflicts with the advancement of the kernel, and we need to make a
> judgement call.
>

I don't buy the "conflicts with the advancement" part, but I'll defer to
your judgement. ;)

>
> Actually, my most serious concern with cryptoloop is the claim that it is
> insufficiently secure. If this is true then we'd be better off removing
> the feature altogether rather than (mis)leading our users into thinking
> that their data is secure.

I believe 1) the current documentation already notifies people of the
security issues, 2) there are workarounds, and 3) the replacement has
security issues of its own.

Dm-crypt is still unstable, doesn't have all the features of cryptoloop
(please see my previous message), yet you wish to dump cryptoloop? At
least cryptoloop is a known quantity.

Once dm-crypt can be shown to have all the features of the software it's
meant to _replace_, I'll be more likely to agree. Otherwise, it sounds
like this decision is being made on a whim.

Regards,

Dale Fountain