Re: [SD4L-devel] SD4L Development..

[Hans-Ulrich J. <han...@t-...>]

Hello everybody!

R Hannes Beinert wrote:
> Hello and welcome, Chris!
> 
Welcome Chris from me too!

> --- Christopher Wagner <wa...@st...> wrote:
>>It seems there's been very little development on this project.  I saw a
>>comment posted by Hans-Ulrich Juettner that stated he had made his own
>>Linux kernel mode driver and interface for Scramdisk archives.  ...
> 
> Actually, your statement was probably more accurate prior to about April
> of this year, however since then Ulrich has been kind enough to offer his
> code to the SD4L project (which was really a project in name only prior to
> that point).
> 
> You will notice a recent file release on the summary page (v0.8.4, 02-Oct-05)
> which comprises his working Linux Scramdisk driver, tools and documentation.
> 
> I have been lax in updating the project webpage, and the project development
> status to reflect the current situation.
> 
It's probably your prerogative, Hannes, to update the project webpage.
But feel free to ask me if I can contribute something to that task.

>>... I'm highly
>>interested in helping beta-test this, I don't have any real programming
>>experience, but I'm interested to help move this along in any way I can. 
> 
> Any help or feedback you are willing to contribute would certainly be welcomed.
> I certainly encourage you to download the current file release and try it out.
> 
>>I also feel that adding support for DriveCrypt containers could go a long
>>way to increasing interest in this project.
> 
> I agree.  In fact, there are a number of interesting avenues that one might
> explore.  However, one would first need to come up with a clear understanding
> of the project's scope and purpose -- and how it fits into the larger body of
> OTFE OSS currently available.  Also, naturally, it would depend upon the
> amount of developer interest.
> 
> My initial goal for the SD4L project has been to generate/host a Linux driver
> for Scramdisk containers, so that Linux would finally have the ability to
> manipulate these containers.  Thanks to Ulrich's development efforts I believe
> this goal has largely been met.  This development gives the encrypted Scramdisk
> container a great deal more utility.  The codebase which Ulrich has written
> can also now be used as a stepping stone to OSX on the Macintosh.  Once this
> has been accomplished, the SD container will be portable between all major
> contemporary platforms -- which would be a significant and valuable achievement.
> 
I agree that support for Mac OS X would be a valuable achievement.
There is even a friend of mine who asked whether it could be done.
However, I have absolutely no experience with Mac OS X, to say nothing
of the Darwin kernel. I believe, porting the Linux kernel driver to
Darwin will be a major programming task.

> Further efforts, however, would need to confront the inherent limitations of
> the SD container structure.  I honestly have no well-developed thoughts on
> the wisdom of pursuing these issues.
> 
>>Hans-Ulrich, feel free to get in contact with me at the above address and
>>we can discuss beta-testing arrangements if you're still interested in
>>doing that.  Potentially, if the project maintainers for SD4L are choosing
>>to abandon the project, perhaps we could continue it either under the same
>>project name or another?
> 
> I think it's fair to say that the project has moved forward slowly, and some
> portions have been a bit neglected (mea culpa), but at the same time it *has*
> moved forward thanks to Ulrich -- I have no intention to allow the project to
> become abandoned, since I do feel it fulfills a useful function.
> 
The project definitely needs more beta testing to make further progress.
The release 0.8-4 was the result of a user having problems which turned
out to be due to an SuSE online update patching the kernel. Testing the
packages on the supported plattforms (SuSE and Debian up to now) and/or
compiling and testing the sources on other distributions would be of
great help.
The said user got in touch with me by private mail. But I think such
questions are better discussed openly on the mailing list. Moreover,
we could use the sourceforge.net tracking system to report bugs. What
do you think about that?

> FWIW, I believe it would be useful to carry on any discussions on this list
> regarding testing or further development -- that is its primary purpose!  ;-)
> 
> Thank you for your interest, Chris!
> 
> Hannes.
> 
Thanks to Chris from me too, especially for the beta-testing offer.

Best regards
Ulrich