Jonathan Corbet
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
They say that LLM-generated security reports have gotten much better, so when I got one for the kernel documentation directory, I naturally gave it my immediate, full attention:
"During an automated topological boundary audit of `linux-master (2)`
using Logic Archaeologist Pro (v8.5),
we identified 44 CRITICAL/HIGH Open Topological Manifold(s) in
`Documentation/.renames.txt` that may warrant review."
...evidently they are so much better that I'm no longer in possession of adequate intellectual resources to even understand them. But it sounds bad...
https://lwn.net/ml/all/fde979b5281d3b85cf7a544ba86baadd@ulshe.ai
"During an automated topological boundary audit of `linux-master (2)`
using Logic Archaeologist Pro (v8.5),
we identified 44 CRITICAL/HIGH Open Topological Manifold(s) in
`Documentation/.renames.txt` that may warrant review."
...evidently they are so much better that I'm no longer in possession of adequate intellectual resources to even understand them. But it sounds bad...
https://lwn.net/ml/all/fde979b5281d3b85cf7a544ba86baadd@ulshe.ai
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
"Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted"
— Attributed to Winston Churchill, evidently not something he actually said, but feeling appropriate at the moment.
— Attributed to Winston Churchill, evidently not something he actually said, but feeling appropriate at the moment.
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Christian Brauner 🦊🐺
brauner@mastodon.socialI have a soft spot for #SUSE. It was the first Linux company I ever worked at and it was a lot of fun. @cyphar and I met there as well and now we're founding members of @amutable . It's sad that this pointless churn in the name of profit maximizing keeps happening to a great company. So so many good kernel people that work over there that carry a lot of weight upstream.
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Ada Palmer
adapalmer@wandering.shopPolls are unreliable, moreso recently than ever.
Always vote as if we don’t know the outcome.
Only the votes are real.
🗳️💪
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
@molly0xfff Bad headlines like this is why I have avoided crypto like the plague...
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
@monsieuricon Definitely, it's all taken care of now...enjoy your weekend...:)
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
There are reports all over the net about free-software projects that are scrambling to keep up with the LLM bug flood. But perhaps we should also spare a moment's thought for the hidden people who must be running hard to keep the enterprise-distribution frankenkernels secure in the face of all this. They cannot be having much fun trying to figure out what to backport and how to do it. That, perhaps, is why certain enterprise distributors have yet to ship a fix for CVE-2026-98432, while Debian patched it almost two weeks ago.
I have long wondered how long the frankenkernel model would be sustainable ... the answer has been "a lot longer than I would have ever thought". Even so, I have to wonder how likely the deluge is to make this whole model fail catastrophically. Those kernels are far from the mainline at a time when it seems clear that one wants to run as close to current mainline kernels as one can get.
I have long wondered how long the frankenkernel model would be sustainable ... the answer has been "a lot longer than I would have ever thought". Even so, I have to wonder how likely the deluge is to make this whole model fail catastrophically. Those kernels are far from the mainline at a time when it seems clear that one wants to run as close to current mainline kernels as one can get.
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
I was just recommended this Wired article, "Please let the Internet die":
https://www.wired.com/story/let-the-internet-die/
...but I have not read it. First I get the malicious-compliance "we see your do-not-track setting" popover that must be dismissed. Then there was another one full of "privacy choices". I stopped there; I think that Wired has already made its point quite nicely.
https://www.wired.com/story/let-the-internet-die/
...but I have not read it. First I get the malicious-compliance "we see your do-not-track setting" popover that must be dismissed. Then there was another one full of "privacy choices". I stopped there; I think that Wired has already made its point quite nicely.
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
Somebody is dumping huge piles of kernel bugs onto maintainers...
https://lwn.net/ml/all/20261028164415.1262013-1-axboe@kernel.dk
https://lwn.net/ml/all/20261027-fixes_core-v1-0-6f74bec9a5bb@kernel.org
https://lwn.net/ml/all/20261027-tty-llm-v1-0-99b0202ae546@linuxfoundation.org
https://lwn.net/ml/all/20261027-pgalloc-ai-hotfixes-v1-0-9c7d1aca801e@kernel.org
...and so on. This onslaught will continue for a while, it seems.
https://lwn.net/ml/all/20261028164415.1262013-1-axboe@kernel.dk
https://lwn.net/ml/all/20261027-fixes_core-v1-0-6f74bec9a5bb@kernel.org
https://lwn.net/ml/all/20261027-tty-llm-v1-0-99b0202ae546@linuxfoundation.org
https://lwn.net/ml/all/20261027-pgalloc-ai-hotfixes-v1-0-9c7d1aca801e@kernel.org
...and so on. This onslaught will continue for a while, it seems.
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
@davidgerard According to this page:
https://thephp.foundation/blog/2026/10/21/todays-php-security-release-and-how-were-strengthening-php-security/
they were informed of one of the vulnerabilities in 2024, and wasted much of the intervening time arguing about how to fix it. So I'm not sure this one qualifies as "quick fix".
(Still glad to not be running any PHP on anything I manage...)
https://thephp.foundation/blog/2026/10/21/todays-php-security-release-and-how-were-strengthening-php-security/
they were informed of one of the vulnerabilities in 2024, and wasted much of the intervening time arguing about how to fix it. So I'm not sure this one qualifies as "quick fix".
(Still glad to not be running any PHP on anything I manage...)
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
@monsieuricon I can relate ... the pre-2002 LWN site was PHP and stayed PHP for a fair while, but I made it all static a while back. The .php URLs remain (didn't want to break them) but there's no PHP on the server...I'm curious to see how many attack attempts we get.
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Jonathan Corbet
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mhoye
mhoye@cosocial.ca
Edited 16 days ago
Edit: looks like it’s been shuttered.
pyconf dot org is a fake event, a scam.
Notes:
- Domain registered after CFP closed.
- Venue doesn't admit its existence: https://fortmason.org/events/
- AI gen headshots, and speakers who aren't, in 100% of the the companies my network can see into, employees at those companies and never have been. Those people don't exist.
A couple of the listed "sponsors'" corporate legal teams have already been advised and word is they're furious.
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
@mattst88 @amonakov Stuff on the lists, though, includes self-extracting compressed kernel images, perf improvements, and 700 lines of Tsunami machine-check work. The potatoes are growing :)
One can argue that this work is low-risk and hurts nobody, but one can also certainly ask whether the mainline kernel should still be adding features to a long-dead architecture.
One can argue that this work is low-risk and hurts nobody, but one can also certainly ask whether the mainline kernel should still be adding features to a long-dead architecture.
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
Scanning the linux-kernel mailing list just now (a bad habit I have), I see patches to add significant features to the Alpha architecture, convert Perl scripts that haven't been touched in decades to Python, and replace user and group IDs with UUIDs.
Not sure how we ever got by without these wonderful new tools.
Not sure how we ever got by without these wonderful new tools.
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
Perhaps never quite getting around to setting up that LWN Facebook account was a good move after all? :)
https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/metas-new-commercial-terms-will-allow-the-scraping-of-news-sites-legal-experts-say/
https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/metas-new-commercial-terms-will-allow-the-scraping-of-news-sites-legal-experts-say/
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
@sackofbones @Netzblockierer @torvalds @mhoye Perhaps consider trusting a project (and its leader) that have delivered increasingly capable kernels and a strong development community for 35 years?
I am not thrilled (to put it lightly) about this rush to LLMs, but I don't think that this sort of attitude makes things better.
I am not thrilled (to put it lightly) about this rush to LLMs, but I don't think that this sort of attitude makes things better.
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Jonathan Corbet
corbet
"No text that is AI-generated may be published in our magazine. No AI-generated art may be used as a Current Affairs illustration. When you read Current Affairs, you are going to be reading the thoughts of a human, and seeing the results of human artistry."
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/why-were-banning-ai
Nice to see, even if they partake in the — wait for it — vilification of em-dashes ...
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/why-were-banning-ai
Nice to see, even if they partake in the — wait for it — vilification of em-dashes ...
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