Re: modules will taint the kernel?

[Lance Simmons <lance@lsimmons.net>]

On Sun, Oct 21, 2001 at 02:46:36AM +0000, Pollywog wrote:
> I just installed kernel 2.4.12 on my laptop, and when it boots, I get
> the following messages:
> 
> Warning, loading /lib/modules/2.4.12/pcmcia/i82365.o will taint the
> kernel: no license
> 
> I get a similar message for pcmcia/ds.o
> 
> Anyone know what this is about and how to fix it?
 
I just noticed this in 2.4.12; perhaps it's something new. I think it
means that the module didn't tell the kernel what license it was
published under, or has a license that's incompatible with the GPL. I
don't know what you can do about it. 

>From oops-tracing.txt in the 2.4.12 kernel documentation:

 Tainted kernels:

 Some oops reports contain the string 'Tainted: ' after the program
 counter, this indicates that the kernel has been tainted by some
 mechanism.  The string is followed by a series of position sensitive
 characters, each representing a particular tainted value.

  1: 'G' if all modules loaded have a GPL or compatible license, 'P' if
  any proprietary module has been loaded.  Modules without a
  MODULE_LICENSE or with a MODULE_LICENSE that is not recognised by
  insmod as GPL compatible are assumed to be proprietary.

  2: 'F' if any module was force loaded by insmod -f, '
  ' if all modules were loaded normally.

 The primary reason for the 'Tainted: ' string is to tell kernel
 debuggers if this is a clean kernel or if anything unusual has occurred.
 Tainting is permanent, even if an offending module is unloading the
 tainted value remains to indicate that the kernel is not trustworthy.

-- 
Lance Simmons