Messages in this thread | | | Date | Thu, 13 Oct 2016 22:24:04 +0100 | From | Al Viro <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH] namei: revert old behaviour for filename_lookup with LOOKUP_PARENT flag |
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On Thu, Oct 13, 2016 at 01:41:11PM -0700, Vineeth Remanan Pillai wrote:
> Yes, the use case is out-of-tree and the code snippet above depicts the use > . > Since kern_path_locked is also not exported, out-of-tree code used kern_path > for the existence check for directories. > > One reference about this issue can be seen here. > > http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/linux/kernel/2459690?do=post_view_flat#2459690
... and in that thread I have asked for details and got no reply whatsoever.
> We also have a customer who complained about this functionality change. > > I understand that there has been no API promises been made to this API. But > since this is an > exported function, the change in function could cause break in out-of-tree > kernel code. I will > rephrase the commit message to say "change in functionality" instead of > regression
In principle, I have no strong objections against exporting kern_path_locked, provided it really matches what they (whoever they are) need. I'm still curious about the context, though - what is that code trying to do? Depending on the actual stuff it wants to implement, there might be better primitives for doing that *and* there might be something worth adding and exporting that would be a better match.
It's not that kern_path_locked() isn't a sane interface, but... using it might be a sign of trying to work around something missing in API. So again, please post more details.
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