Re: tainted modules
tainting doesn't prevent any modules from loading. If your modules are
not loading, its something else. Modules that "taint" the kernel, but
shouldn't (like pcmcia-cs) are buggy and should be fixed.
IMHO, there's no reason to bitch about this.
On Fri, 2001-12-28 at 02:22, k l u r t wrote:
> On Thursday 27 December 2001 11:55 pm, martin f krafft wrote:
> > what's this business about tainting the kernel with non-GPL modules???
> > more importantly, how do i disable/go around it.
> >
> > i am *only* trying to install pcmcia-modules from unstable (3.1.29)
> > with my 2.4.17 kernel, and this is annoying!!!
> >
> > even though modprobe seemingly only bitches about tainting when ds.o,
> > cb_enabler.o, and i82365.o are loaded (they load fine), tulip_cb.o (or
> > any other high-level module for that matter) won't load at all. what
> > gives??? is this a "feature"? i though it was an -ac patch thing, but
> > it made it into the main tree???
> >
> > please tell me how to solve this... thanks!
>
> yeah.. isn't it cute?!
>
> ---- from LWN ----- http://lwn.net/2001/0906/kernel.php3
>
> the loading of a proprietary module will "taint" a running kernel, and
> greatly reduce the user's chance of getting help from the core kernel
> hackers. this has always been the case; the only change is that it has,
> evidently, become necessary for the kernel to track its own taintedness.
>
> this tracking will happen via a sysctl flag like /proc/sys/kernel/tainted;
> the loading of a non-GPL module (or one lacking license information) will
> cause that flag to be set. once set, the tainted flag can not be reset
> without rebooting. the tainted flag will be printed whenever the system
> panics, and post-mortem tools (i.e. ksymoops) will recover it as well. so
> anybody trying to track down a kernel problem will be able to see quickly if
> proprietary modules have ever been loaded.
>
> if users lie about which modules they load, they could conceivably mess with
> the tainted setting. but people aren't too worried about that happening; most
> users who would be able to do that are probably not the type who actually
> would. and, besides, as Alan Cox points out, in the U.S. such an act could be
> seen as defeating a digital rights management scheme, and subject the guilty
> party to a five-year prison sentence, plus extra for conspiracy...
>
> ----
>
> I remember reading that there is a patch to get rid of that message... but ..
> when i went to look for it, i was unable to find it (i think i saw it
> mentioned on debianplanet, which is currently down as i post this).
> supposedly, you wont see that message again unless your have a kernel panic.
> so, as the saying goes.. its not a bug, its a feature. : )
>
> - k l u r t
>
>
> --
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-request@lists.debian.org
> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org
--
spotter@{cs.columbia.edu,yucs.org}
http://yucs.org/~spotter/
Reply to: