[Xastir] AX 25 networking kernel warnings --- heads up all AX.25 users Re: Error in Syslog

[Max Harper]

Why does ax.25 need to be in the kernel? What am I installing when I do apt-get install ax25? What about the millions of users that don't use ax.25, doesn't that just make the kernel a little larger for them without any benefits? Help me understand this as I'd really like to know.
Max KG4PID      From: Tom Russo <russo at bogodyn.org>
 To: Xastir - APRS client software discussion <xastir at xastir.org> 
 Sent: Sunday, February 4, 2018 9:46 PM
 Subject: Re: [Xastir] AX 25 networking kernel warnings --- heads up all AX.25 users Re: Error in Syslog
   
On Sun, Feb 04, 2018 at 11:16:41AM -0800, we recorded a bogon-computron collision of the <xastir at trinnet.net> flavor, containing:
> 
> Hey Tom, Everyone,
> 
> > I would appreciate it if *everyone* on the list who uses AX.25 networking
> > routinely would test out this code --- it impacts *everyone* who uses AX.25
> > networking in Xastir.
> 
> The Ax.25 stack in the Linux kernel is falling apart and there have been 
> various discussions about this on the UROnode list and elsewhere.  The 
> situation is that other (non-AX25) Linux kernel developers have been 
> making changes, updates, deprecations, etc. to keep up with general 
> kernel modernization efforts but without testing any of the changes on 
> the AX.25 side of things.  It seems that if it compiles, it must be 
> working.  Not true!  For various classic packet uses, 3.17.x was the 
> last version before things started getting really broken.

Hmmm.  It still worked for APRS with my 4.4 kernel, but then APRS is all I 
use AX.25 for.

> Most of these have been reported to the "AX25 kernel maintainers" but 
> those people say they *aren't* the maintainers on the kernel side.. just 
> the userland side.  Putting it another way, we don't have any Linux 
> AX.25 maintainers anymore!  Unless we can find some folk who have the 
> technical chops to fix some of these issues (I wish I did), I imagine 
> the native AX.25 stack in Linux will become toxic and ultimately 
> removed.  If there is anyone who is willing to give this a try, I can 
> connect you with a few other people who have a consolidated list of 
> issues and some possible fixes.  Some of those fixes were previously 
> rejected from the kernel maintainers for various reasons without 
> offering solutions.

Sigh.  Wish I had the chops for it, but I don't.  It'll be sad if AX.25 dies
in the Linux kernel.

-- 
Tom Russo    KM5VY
Tijeras, NM  

 echo "prpv_a'rfg_cnf_har_cvcr" | sed -e 's/_/ /g' | tr [a-m][n-z] [n-z][a-m]

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