Re: intrapositioned and extrapositioned negation

[Patrick McHardy <kaber@trash.net>]

Mart Frauenlob wrote:
> Mart Frauenlob wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> today I installed iptables 1.4.5 and discovered my ruleset produces
>> those warnings about intrapositioned  negation:
>> Using intrapositioned negation (`--option ! this`) is deprecated in
>> favor of extrapositioned (`! --option this`).
>>
>> I haven't completely looked up the changelogs, but from what I've
>> found on the internet, this was introduced with 1.4.3.1, right?
>>
>> However, my ruleset is automatically generated by a self written shell
>> script, which I now need to change.
>> It needs to work with any 2.6 kernel and with 2.4 kernels supporting
>> iptables.
>> As my testing options (hardware, time) are limited, I'm asking if
>> someone knows:
>>
>> Will 2.4 kernels and older iptables versions accept the
>> extrapositioned (`! --option this`) notation?
>> If so, I can rewrite my script to always use extrapositioned syntax.
>> Lot's of work, but ok...
>>
>> If not, what kernel / iptables versions do only understand the old
>> deprecated way?
>> So I can query for them and take the appropriate steps.
>>
>> Thanks a lot!
> 
> 
> Nobody knows?
> Well, I've found some old virtual machines, tested it with debian woody
> and sarge, using kernel 2.4.18.bf2-4 and 2.6.18 and extrapositioned
> negation does not seem to cause problems.
> Am I right to assume, that all 2.4 kernels with iptables support - DON'T
> have troubles using extrapositioned negation???

The kernel doesn't care about how you specify negation, its purely
a userspace thing. So yes, it should work properly on any kernel
version.