Bug#987266: preinst check for kernel release > 255 may no longer be needed

[Andras Korn <korn-debbugs@elan.rulez.org>]

Package: libc6
Version: 2.31-11
Severity: normal

Hi,

due to https://salsa.debian.org/glibc-team/glibc/-/commit/6ddfa57577af0d96df9ddd7be401f5ce9a9bcc0f (a commit from 2004) the preinst script for glibc checks whether the "z" in the "x.y.z" of the kernel version is less than 255. If yes, the package refuses to install.

I hit this problem on a box with a custom 4.9.266 kernel.

Based on this lkml thread: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/7pR0YCctzN9phpuEChlL7_SS6auHOM80bZBcGBTZPuMkc6XjKw7HUXf9vZUPi-IaV2gTtsRVXgywQbja8xpzjGRDGWJsVYSGQN5sNuX1yaQ=@protonmail.com/T/, the check is no longer needed because the kernel caps the version code it reports to 255, even if uname prints a higher number.

Of course, you could conceivably still hit the problem with earlier kernels, so I suppose the logic of the check should be modified, not removed entirely, to be technically correct.

If forced at gunpoint to make a guess, I would guess, though, that removing the check would have very little actual impact; it also doesn't protect the user from installing a kernel with an unsupported version number after having installed glibc.

Best regards,

András

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