Re: 64-bit time_t and __WORDSIZE_TIME64_COMPAT32

[Thorsten Kukuk <kukuk@suse.com>]

Hi,

a short update on this:

openSUSE Tumbleweed and MicroOS are using logind instead of utmp for
most applications since 1,5 week. An issue with uptime on Raspberry Pi's
is left (https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1215548), else there
are no open bug reports and it looks like majority of users did not even
noticed the switch :)
We still have the old files for compat reasons with the few not yet
adjusted packages, but I plan to remove them if we include systemd v255
and glibc allows to disable the interface.

Majority of patches are already upstream accepted, most of them even 
released.

I changed systemd so that systemd v255 will not use utmp but logind
internal, too.

I made presentations at All Systems Go! and OSS Europe and there I
received only positive feedback.
Especially "embedded" distributors were very interested in this (beside
the few people who think that 2038 is far, far away and we should not
care about this for the next decade).

On Tue, Apr 11, Adhemerval Zanella Netto via Libc-alpha wrote:

> I wonder if it would be better as a long term to add a switch 
> --disable-utmp (similar to --disable-crypt) which just set these functions
> to return ENOSYS without any compatibility support.  It is highly unlike 
> that we will ever get a proper fix for BZ#24492 [1] or add support for 
> 64-bit time_t for these interface, which are both either security or 
> usability issues.
> 
> [1] https://sourceware.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=24492

With the current state and feedback I think this is the best solution
for glibc going forward.
And for people who don't want to use systemd, there is still utmps and
similar projects, so utmp implementation outside of glibc.

  Thorsten

-- 
Thorsten Kukuk, Distinguished Engineer, Senior Architect, Future Technologies
SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH, Frankenstraße 146, 90461 Nuernberg, Germany
Managing Director: Ivo Totev, Andrew McDonald, Werner Knoblich
(HRB 36809, AG Nürnberg)