Re: [PATCH] Fix invalid free of memory allocated during rtld init

[Carlos O'Donell <carlos at systemhalted dot org>]

On 01/16/2013 03:27 AM, Andreas Schwab wrote:
> Carlos O'Donell <carlos@systemhalted.org> writes:
> 
>> (a) assumptions, 
> 
> What do you mean with assumptions?

An assumption is anything that the reader has to 
assume as true in order for the analysis to be 
correct.

You may state an assumption without proof since
the reader must assume it is true.

An assumption in this case might be:
~~~
Early rtld startup can't use malloc, instead it uses
a dummy malloc that doesn't support freeing memory
(except for the last block allocated).
~~~

You didn't prove this, and you don't need to,
but the reader has to agree this is true in 
order for the rest of the analysis to be correct.

All assumptions do not need to be listed,
only those that might not be immediately 
obvious, or would help the reviewer.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I know a lot less
than you do. You know a lot more than me :-)

I need your help, and so do the others in this
community, we'd like to learn from your experience.

One simple way we can facilitate that sharing of
information (which is what FOSS is about) is to
ensure that all of our patches include sufficient
information for the reviewer (and others reading 
the list who are learning from you).

Cheers,
Carlos.