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Date:      Mon, 8 Dec 2014 11:04:00 +0000
From:      "Bjoern A. Zeeb" <bzeeb-lists@lists.zabbadoz.net>
To:        Jim Thompson <jim@netgate.com>
Cc:        Martin Hanson <greencoppermine@yandex.com>, freebsd-pf@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Why merging recent OpenBSD PF code is not easy (was Re: FOLLOW-UP)
Message-ID:  <6BB4C12E-DB19-42C1-93C8-264BAA053CED@lists.zabbadoz.net>
In-Reply-To: <75F1B874-8BF5-4500-A9EB-9A6E3F90C3F2@netgate.com>
References:  <115251417993747@web27m.yandex.ru> <75F1B874-8BF5-4500-A9EB-9A6E3F90C3F2@netgate.com>

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On 08 Dec 2014, at 02:22 , Jim Thompson <jim@netgate.com> wrote:

>> On Dec 7, 2014, at 5:09 PM, Martin Hanson =
<greencoppermine@yandex.com> wrote:
>>=20
>> Seems like you have missed the whole point, nobody can sort it out =
now!
>=20
> No, you=92re missing the point.
>=20
> The codebase has forked, and it=92s unlikely that anyone who is =
working on (or in a position to direct work on) pf believes that the =
correct course of action is to reverse at this point, and follow your =
prescriptive.

I have not read all your references but there are more points one could =
possibly consider:

- backward compatibility;  FreeBSD tries not to screw users over with =
every new major release and constantly changing syntax and old firewall =
rules no longer working are just not an option for us;  you can =93fix=94 =
this by writing a backward compat parser and adjusting the code to =
support all the stuff still;  just a lot more extra work on code you =
don=92t maintain and thus making it hard to sync.

- the #ifdefs were indeed just not sustainable and a major pain reading =
the code; that could have been reduced but frankly prevented us for too =
long to work on the code. V_irtualisation is just another code mangler.

- the tight integration of pf in OpenBSD with the rest of their network =
stack started to suit the more generic FreeBSD model less and less.  We =
can=92t just do that unless we drop other firewalls and screw a lot of =
commercial user base.

- There is another major pf player in the game who wasn=92t mentioned =
yet, and that=92s Apple.  Has anyone considered looking at their =
implementation shipping on millions of devices, requiring similar =93API =
stability=94 as FreeBSD would love to support?


Just a few things from the top of my head.

=97=20
Bjoern A. Zeeb                                  Charles Haddon Spurgeon:
"Friendship is one of the sweetest joys of life.  Many might have failed
 beneath the bitterness of their trial  had they not found a friend."




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