Re: v5.15 backport request

[Greg KH <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>]

On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 12:30:30PM +0200, Greg KH wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 12:23:37PM +0200, Ard Biesheuvel wrote:
> > Please consider the commits below for backporting to v5.15. These
> > patches are prerequisites for the backport of the x86 EFI stub
> > refactor that is needed for distros to sign v5.15 images for secure
> > boot in a way that complies with new MS requirements for memory
> > protections while running in the EFI firmware.
> 
> What old distros still care about this for a kernel that was released in
> 2021?  I can almost understand this for 6.1.y and newer, but why for
> this one too?

To be more specific, we have taken very large backports for some
subsystems recently for 5.15 in order to fix a lot of known security
issues with the current codebase, and to make the maintenance of that
kernel easier over time (i.e. keeping it in sync to again, fix security
issues.)

But this feels like a "new feature" that is being imposed by an external
force, and is not actually "fixing" anything wrong with the current
codebase, other than it not supporting this type of architecture.  And
for that, wouldn't it just make more sense to use a newer kernel?

thanks,

greg k-h