Re: [PATCH v2] x86/efi: Safely enable unaccepted memory in UEFI

From: Dave Hansen
Date: Mon Jan 16 2023 - 16:22:50 EST


On 1/16/23 02:56, Gerd Hoffmann wrote:
>> And we add this protocol to address very temporary problem: once
>> unaccepted memory support get upstream it is just a dead weight.
> Maybe, maybe not. unaccepted memory support has a Kconfig switch after
> all. If we figure in 3-5 years that all distros have enabled it anyway
> we can drop it again. For the transition period it will surely be
> useful.

I agree with Kirill here.

Having unaccepted memory *AND* this firmware-driven feature really is
just implementing the same thing twice.

I'd much rather have the Kconfig option forced on for all guests that
*might* need unaccepted memory support than carry redundant implementations.

Also, _if_ we allow folks to turn the Kconfig off and get access to all
their memory, they might get used to that. Removing this firmware
interface from the kernel in a few years could be viewed as a
regression. Then, we'll be stuck with this forever.

In any case, the firmware side of things didn't seem like _that_ much
code. So, I'm not protesting *that* strongly. But, I also don't
believe for a second that this is going to be removed in 3-5 years.