Re: Proposal, again: Disable autoload of compat_xyz modules

[maya%NetBSD.org@localhost]

I have gone over your comments, trying to pin down what exactly went
wrong.

On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 07:32:58PM +0200, Maxime Villard wrote:
> Le 26/09/2019 à 19:21, Edgar Fuß a écrit :
> > I do understand you are not proposing to remove compat_linux.
> > I do understand your proposal is just about disabling module auto-load
> > (which I don't care about because I run a monolithic kernel).
> > 
> > So why the hell are you throwing in statements like
> > > immense trouble for little actual use.
> 
> Because this is true! Do you understand, or not? Pfff.
> 
> Yes, compat_linux has had vulnerabilities, repeatedly, and yes, this has
> caused us immense trouble, like the situation right now, where we have things
> to pull up and advisories to write but no one willing to do that work. This
> has happened repeatedly, and I'm making a proposal to disable this feature,
> to prevent this trouble in the future. Nothing controversial about that, it
> just makes sense.
> 
> You are not worth my time.

First of all, that's not cool. I appreciate Edgar Fuß.

Moving on. You see this as an unpopular proposal that will never get
through. surely we just want compat forever and ever, and you're just
here for round 6 after regaining your strength from the previous time.

This is in fact a wildly popular idea, but somehow turned into a huge
frustrating bikeshed again.

Some pointers for the next time, since this is now so toxic it can't
be touched with a ten foot pole:

- Limit the scope of the removal/disabling being discussed. If you get
  no objections, these threads are easy, you can start another in 2
  weeks for slightly more scope until you meet resistance.
- Calm the worries of people who need this feature: it is just a
  "sysctl -w security.disable=1" away.
  We have some features in tree that say:
  WARNING: ZFS on NetBSD is under development
  This is OK.
- If you are getting angry, take a break. You're antagonizing people as
  they are trying to relate to you.

If you are lucky, and make good arguments, you can even persuade people
to help with the changes.

We're actually not super opposed to change and removals as a community.
pkgsrc-users has a good flow going and now we regularly remove packages.