[syslinux] [5.10] PXE + dhcp opts 209, 210 and path issues in tftp/http

[Gene Cumm]

On Jun 8, 2013 11:48 AM, "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa at zytor.com> wrote:
>
> On 06/07/2013 03:34 PM, Ady wrote:
> >
> > If I may...
> >
> > Most Linux distros are not using 5.xx yet. From the point of view of
> > the final user, there are still few new features in 5.xx in
> > comparison with 4.xx. Before this issue affects more users, and
> > perhaps even turning into more difficult maintenance and patches, it
> > may be better to suffer a relatively "small" break now than later,
> > when more users and more distros might adopt newer versions (6.xx).
> >
> > I would guess that even those (relatively few) users already using
> > 5.xx would rather correct a couple of cfg files (if they are using
> > the PATH directive with multiple paths), instead of potentially
> > having more serious issues in the future (or making maintenance more
> > difficult because of strange needed patches).
> >
> > I would also guess that those users that are using 5.xx with multiple
> > paths listed in the PATH directive are probably following the
> > development closely enough.
> >
> > IMHO, this seems to be a case where there is no "clean" solution;
> > rather "suffer" from a break now (by choosing a different
> > path-separator for the PATH directive), or it might generate much
> > more problems in the future. Well, at least this is my (very humble)
> > impression. Not being a developer myself, I could be completely and
> > absolutely wrong about it.
> >
>
> The only other alternative I can think of is to allow quoted strings in
> PATH.  Backslash-escapes are not really usable as some OSes use them and
> TFTP needs to use the host filename syntax, but quotes are very rare in
> filenames and probably wouldn't cause too much trouble.

To minimize impact and convey the extent of the change, perhaps change to
';' immediately and make another release, probably 5.20 and this week.

--Gene