Re: Security question: "Text file busy" overwriting executables but not shared libraries?

From: Jamie Lokier (lk@tantalophile.demon.co.uk)
Date: Sat Oct 13 2001 - 09:53:32 EST


Linus Torvalds wrote:
> Trust me. The people who came up with MAP_COPY were stupid. Really. It's
> an idiotic concept, and it's not worth implementing.

I can think of an efficiency-related use for MAP_COPY, and it has
nothing to do with shared libraries:

 - An editor using mmap() to read a file.

The existing semantics require that you either call read() and waste
(potentially shared) memory to do this, or use MAP_PRIVATE and then
deliberately page in and dirty all of the file's pages.

Neither of these seem to be the most efficient way to launch an editor.

cheers,
-- Jamie
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