[cgl_discussion] FW: Kick-off the Review of the Device Driver Hardening Design Spe c

Randy.Dunlap rddunlap at osdl.org
Thu Sep 19 11:57:50 PDT 2002


Hi Rob,

I have serious doubts that announcing and reviewing the
driver hardening spec and drivers _only_ on the hardeneddrivers
mailing list is sufficient.

I even doubt that doing so on the cgl_discussion list is
sufficient.  cgl_discussion so far just isn't being used
(or at least replied to) by people outside of the CGL
member companies, and I believe that we need more
involvement than just the CGL member companies for this
(driver hardening and other parts of CGL) to succeed.
[BTW, succeed in this case means being integrated into
a mainstream kernel release.]

Do you have other plans to announce the hardeneddrivers
project and ask for feedback?  such as to lkml or more
focused mailing lists?  I think that's what needs to
happen here.

I see that the hardened drivers projects is already
listed under http://linuxkernel.foundries.sourceforge.net,
and that's good, but I still doubt that location is
enough either.

I know that there is a concern about spamming lkml etc.,
but without adequate exposure and feedback, patches like
this won't make progress, won't be integrated into a
mainstream kernel, and will eventually just bitrot.

This is not an issue only for driver hardening and I'm not
trying to pick on you, but driver hardening is
(a) leading the way on this and (b) a very critical
general infrastructure that needs wide exposure.

Bottom line to me is that it will need to be discussed
on lkml and linux-scsi at least, until newer lists like
cgl_discussion have enough usage to stand alone.

And we shouldn't discourage such discussion on cgl_discussion
(i.e., we shouldn't limit it to the hardeneddrivers mailing
list e.g.).

-- 
~Randy

On Wed, 18 Sep 2002, Rhoads, Rob wrote:

| I sent the original message below on the hardened driver mailing list. Since
| I've received only a few responses and only from engineers within Intel I'm
| forwarding it here.
|
| If you plan on participating on the hardened drivers project, please join
| the mailing and send me your SourceForge user account name. Thanks.
|
| -RobR
|
| -----Original Message-----
| From: Rhoads, Rob
| Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 9:00 AM
| To: 'hardeneddrivers-discuss at lists.sourceforge.net'
| Subject: Kick-off the Review of the Device Driver Hardening Design Spec
|
| All,
|
| As promised, I'd like to kick-off the review of the current
| "Device Driver Hardening Design Spec". I'd like to do this
| using this mailing list and the SourceForge bug tracker
| database.
|
| Under the "Tracker" section of the Hardened Drivers project
| (http://sourceforge.net/projects/hardeneddrivers/), I've
| created a new tracker database called "Review Design Spec".
| That is where I'd liked to track all review comments and
| feedback for the design spec.
|
| IMPORTANT: Before you can add your review comments, I need
|            to add your SourceForge account to the project.
|            Send me your SourceForge user account name.
|
|
|
| What I need from you (Action Items for you):
| -------------------------------------------
| 1. If you don't already have a SourceForge developer account,
|    get one (see http://sourceforge.net/account/register.php).
|    Send me your account name, so I can add you to the project.
|    Include a brief intro of who you are, past experience, and
|    your interests on device driver hardening. This last part
|    is just so I can get to know you.
|
| 2. Download the spec, read and review it.
|    http://hardeneddrivers.sourceforge.net/downloads/DDH-Spec-0.5h.pdf
|
| 3. Submit your review comments to the tracker "Review Design Spec"
|    database. Be sure to include the exact reference in the doc
|    (i.e. section numbers). I'd prefer that you use one tracker entry
|    per comment/suggestion. This is more work, but I want to be able
|    to track each item separately. We can always close, combine, or
|    open new entries if needed. Just use your best judgment.
|
|    DUE DATE: Submit all feedback by the end of the week
|              Sept. 20, 2002.
|
| 4. Send your questions or items you'd like to further discuss,
|    to this mailing list.
|
|
|
| What I will do (Action Items for me):
| ------------------------------------
| 1. I will review each of the tracker entries and resolve,
|    or disposition the ones that I can (e.g. accept, reject,
|    etc.). I will periodically publish the results of the
|    dispositions to this mailing list.
|
|    Ground Rules for tracker disposition:
|    ------------------------------------
|    Before rejecting an entry outright, I will work with the
|    submitter to resolve any conflicts. The submitter or
|    myself always have the option of opening up a discussion
|    on a particular item to this mailing list for wider
|    review. When in doubt, I will error on sending it out
|    to the mailing list for greater discussion.
|
|    As the project maintainer, I reserve the right to make the final
|    decision.
|
| 2. Next week I will put together a list of items that I think
|    need further discussion, this will include all open or unresolved
|    review comments from the tracker entries.
|
| 3. Consolidate all resolved review comments into a new
|    revision of the Device Driver Hardening Spec and post
|    it up on the project homepage.
|
| 4. Put together a list of all required design/code changes to
|    the existing project source code, that result from your
|    feedback. From this list we can start assigning owners
|    for any needed code changes.
|
| +=+=+
| Rob Rhoads                     mailto:rob.rhoads at intel.com
| Staff Software Engineer        office: 503-677-5498
| Intel Corporation
|
| This email message solely contains my own personal views, and not
| necessarily those of my employer.
| _______________________________________________




More information about the cgl_discussion mailing list