On Thu, Sep 30, 2021 at 01:35:22PM +0100, David Miller wrote: > From: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@xxxxxxxxxx> > Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2021 19:19:53 -0700 > > > On Thu, 30 Sep 2021 01:04:57 +0200 Pablo Neira Ayuso wrote: > >> Add position handle to allow to identify the rule location from netlink > >> events. Otherwise, userspace cannot incrementally update a userspace > >> cache through monitoring events. > >> > >> Skip handle dump if the rule has been either inserted (at the beginning > >> of the ruleset) or appended (at the end of the ruleset), the > >> NLM_F_APPEND netlink flag is sufficient in these two cases. > >> > >> Handle NLM_F_REPLACE as NLM_F_APPEND since the rule replacement > >> expansion appends it after the specified rule handle. > >> > >> Fixes: 96518518cc41 ("netfilter: add nftables") > >> Signed-off-by: Pablo Neira Ayuso <pablo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > > > Let me defer to Dave on this one. Krzysztof K recently provided us with > > this quote: > > > > "One thing that does bother [Linus] is developers who send him fixes in the > > -rc2 or -rc3 time frame for things that never worked in the first place. > > If something never worked, then the fact that it doesn't work now is not > > a regression, so the fixes should just wait for the next merge window. > > Those fixes are, after all, essentially development work." > > > > https://lwn.net/Articles/705245/ > > > > Maybe the thinking has evolved since, but this patch strikes me as odd. > > We forgot to put an attribute in netlink 8 years ago, and suddenly it's > > urgent to fill it in? Something does not connect for me, certainly the > > commit message should have explained things better... > > Agreed. The aforementioned article says: "In general, he said, if a fix applies to a feature that is not currently being used, it should wait for the next development cycle" This feature is being used by 'nft monitor', which is not representing: - insert rule - add/insert rule with position handle - create table/chain/set/map commands in the correct way via netlink notifications. I can rework the commit message to clarify this and resubmit.