There are two known definite bugs, a backward compatibility issue and at least two general complainst on the table. * BUG: block size problem Has a current work around, Herbert has stated he will soon have it fixed in code. * BUG: SMP issue None of us has had to deal with it, but Herbert has stated he will have it fixed in code soon. * 2.2 not readable on 2.4 Question: is this really unknown or are the systems in question ones that were set up with the old absolute block number problem? If not, perhaps it is an issue for study using a small test case. Is there anyone here who is actually a mathematician/cryptographer? * performance loss due to non-reentrancy Presumably if Herbert fixes the SMP issue, he sorts this as well. I might note that I play my Mozart CD on this laptop while editing on a loopback AES partition and have no problems. * kernel bloat. This is probably a non-issue. Linus will at some point go for hooks into the kernel for encryption support. The API for that will perhaps be influenced by kerneli but that will not be the final word. I do suspect it will have great influence because everyone is using the new util-linux which supports the new api for loopback encryption types. In that sense we are already main stream. (The util-linux support is mainstream debian now) I'm pretty sure I remember a kernel discussion on some of the issues and there is a desire to have one single crypto API that is available for all purposes, loopback fs or other. While loopAES is very nice for now, and perhaps some of the code will find its' way into the kernel, I don't see that as the likely way things will go for 2.6.x. I'm very sure that a loopback module will not contain its' own crypto. It will share it with other tools and applications. We are not going to see 5 loadable modules providing different services each with its' own implimentation of AES. -- ------------------------------------------------------ Use Linux: A computer Dale Amon, CEO/MD is a terrible thing Village Networking Ltd to waste. Belfast, Northern Ireland ------------------------------------------------------ Linux-crypto: cryptography in and on the Linux system Archive: http://mail.nl.linux.org/linux-crypto/
