On Sun, Jun 1, 2014 at 3:00 AM, intrigeri <[email protected]> wrote: > AK wrote (31 May 2014 23:53:37 GMT) : >> Just wondering why Tails decided to uses the perl version of htpdate >> rather than the C version. > > We had to modify htpdate to make it suit our needs, and it was easier > for us to modify the Perl version. Also, unless there are pretty good > reasons, using a memory safe language seems to be sensible. > > Cheers!
OK, but note this from the htpdate website [1]: "!!! no development on the Perl version is done anymore !!! " "Be aware that the script makes a step in time and some programs (e.g. database) do not always appreciate a step backwards in time. The C version of htpdate doesn't step but adjusts the time smoothly." So it is no longer maintained by upstream, and it doesn't adjust the time smoothly. I guess you don't want to always adjust the time smoothly since you want people to be able to get started right away, but I think that if their clock is already close enough, it is better to adjust smoothly (built in kernel feature as I understand it). Also, C can run slightly faster (not sure if it's significant) and may be easier to understand since it's a more common language (for me at least). For memory protection, I would suggest using kernel hardening such as PaX from grsecurity [2]. I already started some parts of the code and it seems pretty easy if you use libcurl. [1] http://www.vervest.org/fiki/bin/view/HTP/DownloadPerl [2] https://pax.grsecurity.net Cheers, Andrew _______________________________________________ Tails-dev mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.boum.org/listinfo/tails-dev To unsubscribe from this list, send an empty email to [email protected].
