Re: [fuse-devel] [PATCH 01/25] VFS: move attr_kill logic from notify_change into helper function

> > Your patch is changing the API in a very unsafe way, since there will
> > be no error or warning on an unconverted fs.  And that could lead to
> > security holes.
> > 
> > If we would rename the setattr method to setattr_new as well as
> > changing it's behavior, that would be fine.  But I guess we do not
> > want to do that.
> 
> Which "unconverted fses"? If we're talking out of tree stuff, then too
> bad: it is _their_ responsibility to keep up with kernel changes.

It is usually a good idea to not change the semantics of an API in a
backward incompatible way without changing the syntax as well.

This is true regardless of whether we care about out-of-tree code or
not (and we should care to some degree).  And especially true if the
change in question is security sensitive.

Miklos