sysctl: deprecate sys_sysctl in a user space visible fashion.
authorEric W. Biederman <ebiederm@xmission.com>
Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:05:58 +0000 (03:05 -0700)
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@woody.linux-foundation.org>
Thu, 18 Oct 2007 21:37:23 +0000 (14:37 -0700)
commit7058cb02ddab4bce70a46e519804fccb7ac0a060
treec0d3bfc395472a2a8c9098227739892a9090b3a0
parent8ada720d89d678eb5a09d3048a5e9a35c526800c
sysctl: deprecate sys_sysctl in a user space visible fashion.

After adding checking to register_sysctl_table and finding a whole new set
of bugs.  Missed by countless code reviews and testers I have finally lost
patience with the binary sysctl interface.

The binary sysctl interface has been sort of deprecated for years and
finding a user space program that uses the syscall is more difficult then
finding a needle in a haystack.  Problems continue to crop up, with the in
kernel implementation.  So since supporting something that no one uses is
silly, deprecate sys_sysctl with a sufficient grace period and notice that
the handful of user space applications that care can be fixed or replaced.

The /proc/sys sysctl interface that people use will continue to be
supported indefinitely.

This patch moves the tested warning about sysctls from the path where
sys_sysctl to a separate path called from both implementations of
sys_sysctl, and it adds a proper entry into
Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.

Allowing us to revisit this in a couple years time and actually kill
sys_sysctl.

[lethal@linux-sh.org: sysctl: Fix syscall disabled build]
Signed-off-by: Eric W. Biederman <ebiederm@xmission.com>
Signed-off-by: Paul Mundt <lethal@linux-sh.org>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt
kernel/sysctl.c