On Wednesday, 6 October 2004 09.54, - Edwin - wrote:
I am not claiming that kernel tainting as such is suse specific. I know all linux kernels that aren't too old have that concept
HOWEVER: All other kernels only get tainted when you load a module that isn't GPLed (ok, yeah, if you force-load a module too). ONLY! No link you have posted have said anything about a GPL module being capable of tainting the kernel. They all discuss binary-only or otherwise non-GPL modules. You see the difference?
"Yes. But, who mentioned anything about 'a GPL module being capable of tainting the kernel'?"
I did
Besides, if you remember the original message, it talked about compiling one's own modules. Which, if I'm not mistaken, are most likely non-GPL modules. (But, of course, I'm just guessing here...)
Well, what the statistical odds are I can't say, but there are plenty of GPLed modules maintained outside the main kernel tree. But the part about GPL modules being able to taint was just to illustrate the difference between this type of tainting and the one you brought up in the links you posted. In the traditional scheme, any module not GPL (including BSD or LGPL licensed modules) will taint the kernel, and any module that is under the GPL will not. In this new scheme, any module not distributed by suse (or under agreement with them) will taint the kernel regardless of license. One scheme is about licenses, the other is about distributor and support deals.
SUSE has introduced a new concept: module support. This means that they tag their modules in a specific way, and when you load a third party module that does not have that tag, the kernel gets tainted and you see the message. This is so SUSE can easily see if you have done something that they don't officially support.
So, to reiterate, it is NOT about tainting, it is about this particular kind of tainting.
Yes, I understand your point.
Later, if I find a way to check it on RHEL (I have version 3), I'll check if the words come out exactly as it was on RH9.
Please do, and when you do, don't look just at the word "taint", look for the words "unsupported module"
Well, I guess it wouldn't be necessary at this point since the most likely words I'll find is something to this effect:
"Warning: Loading %s will taint the kernel..."
No, that's what modprobe/insmod will print. The kernel message is printed through klogd/syslogd so you should see it in /var/log/messages (or wherever red hat logs kernel messages)
( http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/168 )
I thought we're talking about the same thing but it seems like SuSE "extended" the idea and adapted a different "kind" of tainting.
exactly
I wonder if the original message (found above) will ever come out in SuSE's warning messages... anyway...