Re: [gentoo-server] WOLK-4.10 patch ?

[Kerin Millar]

> hi guys,
>
> Just came back from vacations, and i notice that WOLK-4.10 was
> released (January 5, 2004). still i cant find the patch on the site.

Yes, it was supposed to be released on the date shown but was pulled at
the last minute (some corner-case oops issue when booting on a few
machines apparently).

Unfortunately, the pace of development seems to have slowed considerably,
although I do believe that it will (eventually) be released. My view is
that the rmap VM implementation is increasingly becoming a liability to
maintain - both in terms of quashing existing bugs and ensuring smooth
integration with other patches; in fact, I heard a rumour that Marc was
trying to take over rmap in view of the fact that Rik van Riel isn't doing
much work on it anymore.

I became frustrated at the situation, and moved to a customised -aa for a
while. My original plan was to create an imitation WOLK based on -aa
applied to a very new 2.4 tree (I believe I made a post some time ago to
that effect). I have been communicating occasionally with someone else who
is doing something similar, so if anything comes of that I will let you
know. I managed to port most of -aa to 2.4.24 but haven't gone much
further than that yet. I am quite busy nowadays, and my attention has also
been distracted by 2.6 (in fact, I'm testing 2.6.1 on the server which has
been great thus far) so I don't know how long it will be before I can
conclude anything on the matter.

Nonetheless, it's not something I want to give up on. One thing I miss in
2.6 is grsecurity. It'll come eventually, but for now it's really a 2.4
only thing. When grsec-2.0 is completed I will probably re-examine the
situation.

--Kerin Francis Millar

PS: If I get hold of Marc, I might try and persuade him to give me a copy
of his tree as it stands. I don't believe the issue referred to affects
many users.