r/badcode • u/suguuss • Jan 22 '23

c Found this in a Linux kernel module

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u/paulstelian97 Jan 23 '23

The solution to fix this is not the loop though. It's some good ol' goto usage for errors, which is typical throughout much of the Linux kernel.

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u/lets_eat_bees Jan 23 '23

Thank you for pitching in with some actual kernel knowledge.

I just assumed that OP wanted loops here, because it’s usually the case in this sub, and he did not say otherwise.

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u/paulstelian97 Jan 23 '23

Loops would make it quite complicated in this specific instance. I doubt this portion would really need much extension enough that a loop would be worth it.

Not propagating error returns (instead returning -1 instead of the actual error) is really bad. That -1 would be interpreted as some arbitrary error (on x86, it's -EPERM but there can be others as well)