Package: ftp.debian.org Severity: normal lockdev implements a library interface around the SYSV-style UUCP device locks for TTY devices. However, this type of locking is deprecated and unnecessary, at least on Linux. The recommended alternative is direct use of flock(2) on the corresponding device node. This will ensure that locking will work properly with other programs also locking the device node, and since the locks are implemented in the kernel, there's no need for racy creation and deletion of lockfiles with the owner PID, and no possibility of PID clashes or failure to reclaim lost locks if the PID is reused. That is to say, the flock(2) interface is guaranteed to be robust, while lockdev is not. For users not using the C API (for example scripts), flock(1) from util-linux provides a wrapper.
I'd like to remove lockdev entirely for jessie, providing that it's possible to do so without breakage. Likewise I'd also like to convert packages using UUCP-style locks which don't use lockdev. We currently have at least three methods of device locking (UUCP-with-lockdev, UUCP-without-lockdev and direct-flock), all of which have overlapping or completely orthogonal semantics, which will result in not respecting the other lock types if used in combination. Hence the need to reduce this to a single robust locking strategy: just locking the device directly. We have now removed all use of lockdev in unstable. Two users remain which are - snooper (NMU uploaded) - libcec (patch in #728023, and will be NMUed if no action taken) Please could lockdev be removed from unstable. Thanks, Roger -- .''`. Roger Leigh : :' : Debian GNU/Linux http://people.debian.org/~rleigh/ `. `' schroot and sbuild http://alioth.debian.org/projects/buildd-tools `- GPG Public Key F33D 281D 470A B443 6756 147C 07B3 C8BC 4083 E800 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-bugs-dist-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org
