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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> |
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> |
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> |
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<meta name="generator" content="Docutils 0.4: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/" /> |
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<title>GLEP 14 -- security updates based on GLSA</title> |
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="tools/glep.css" type="text/css" /> |
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</head> |
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<table class="navigation" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" |
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width="100%" border="0"> |
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<tr><td class="navicon" width="150" height="35"> |
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<a href="http://www.gentoo.org/" title="Gentoo Linux Home Page"> |
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<img src="http://www.gentoo.org/images/gentoo-new.gif" alt="[Gentoo]" |
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border="0" width="150" height="35" /></a></td> |
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<td class="textlinks" align="left"> |
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[<b><a href="http://www.gentoo.org/">Gentoo Linux Home</a></b>] |
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[<b><a href="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/glep">GLEP Index</a></b>] |
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[<b><a href="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/glep/glep-0014.txt">GLEP Source</a></b>] |
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</td></tr></table> |
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<table class="rfc2822 docutils field-list" frame="void" rules="none"> |
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<col class="field-name" /> |
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<col class="field-body" /> |
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<tbody valign="top"> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">GLEP:</th><td class="field-body">14</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Title:</th><td class="field-body">security updates based on GLSA</td> |
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</tr> |
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antarus |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Version:</th><td class="field-body">1.6</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Last-Modified:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="http://www.gentoo.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/xml/htdocs/proj/en/glep/glep-0014.txt?cvsroot=gentoo">2006/10/14 02:54:24</a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Author:</th><td class="field-body">Marius Mauch <genone at genone.de>,</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Status:</th><td class="field-body">Accepted</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Type:</th><td class="field-body">Standards Track</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Content-Type:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="glep-0002.html">text/x-rst</a></td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Created:</th><td class="field-body">18 Aug 2003</td> |
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</tr> |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Post-History:</th><td class="field-body">22-Aug-2003, 24-Aug-2003, 10-Nov-2003, 25-Oct-2004</td> |
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</tr> |
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genone |
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<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Requires:</th><td class="field-body"><a class="reference" href="http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/glepglep-0021.html">21</a></td> |
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</tr> |
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</tbody> |
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</table> |
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<hr /> |
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<div class="contents topic"> |
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<p class="topic-title first"><a id="contents" name="contents">Contents</a></p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#abstract" id="id2" name="id2">Abstract</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#status-update" id="id3" name="id3">Status Update</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#motivation" id="id4" name="id4">Motivation</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#proposed-change" id="id5" name="id5">Proposed change</a><ul> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#update-tool" id="id6" name="id6">Update tool</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#glsa-format" id="id7" name="id7">GLSA format</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#glsa-release-process" id="id8" name="id8">GLSA release process</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#portage-changes" id="id9" name="id9">Portage changes</a></li> |
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</ul> |
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</li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#rationale" id="id10" name="id10">Rationale</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#implementation" id="id11" name="id11">Implementation</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#backwards-compatibility" id="id12" name="id12">Backwards compatibility</a></li> |
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<li><a class="reference" href="#copyright" id="id13" name="id13">Copyright</a></li> |
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</ul> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2" id="abstract" name="abstract">Abstract</a></h1> |
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<p>There is currently no automatic way to check a Gentoo system for identified |
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security holes or auto-apply security fixes. This GLEP proposes a way to deal |
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with this issue</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3" id="status-update" name="status-update">Status Update</a></h1> |
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<p>Preliminary implementation <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">glsa-check</span></tt> in gentoolkit, final implementation |
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pending set support in portage (GLEP 21).</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4" id="motivation" name="motivation">Motivation</a></h1> |
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<p>Automatic checking for security updates is a often requested feature for Gentoo. |
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Implementing it will enable users to fix security holes without reading every |
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security announcement. It's also a feature that is often required in enterprise |
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environments.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id5" id="proposed-change" name="proposed-change">Proposed change</a></h1> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id6" id="update-tool" name="update-tool">Update tool</a></h2> |
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<p>The coding part of this GLEP is a update tool that reads a GLSA, verifies its |
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GPG signature, checks if the system is affected by it and executes one of the |
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following actions, depending on user preferences:</p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li>run all steps necessary to fix the security hole, including package updates and |
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daemon restarts.</li> |
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<li>instruct the user how to fix the security hole.</li> |
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<li>print the GLSA so the user can get more information if desired.</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p>Once this tool is implemented and well tested it can be integrated into portage. |
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A prototype <a class="reference" href="#implementation">implementation</a> for this tool exists.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id7" id="glsa-format" name="glsa-format">GLSA format</a></h2> |
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<p>The GLSA format needs to be specified, I suggest using XML for that to simplify |
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parsing and later extensions. See <a class="reference" href="#implementation">implementation</a> for a sample DTD. The format |
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has to be compatible with the update tool of course. If necessary a converter |
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tool or an editor could be written for people not comfortable with XML (update: |
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a QT based editor for the GLSA format written by plasmaroo exists in the |
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gentoo-projects repository). Every GLSA has to be GPG signed by the responsible |
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developer, who has to be a member of the security herd.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id8" id="glsa-release-process" name="glsa-release-process">GLSA release process</a></h2> |
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<p>Additional to sending the GLSA to the gentoo-announce mailing list it has to be |
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stored on a HTTP/FTP server and in the portage tree. I'd suggest a script should |
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be used to release a GLSA that will:</p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li>check the GLSA for correctness</li> |
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<li>sign the GLSA with the developers GPG key</li> |
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<li>send a mail to gentoo-announce with the XML GLSA and a plaintext version attached</li> |
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<li>upload it to www.gentoo.org/security/en/glsa (via cvs commit)</li> |
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<li>put it on the rsync server (via cvs commit)</li> |
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<li>notify the moderators on the forums to make an announcement</li> |
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</ul> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id9" id="portage-changes" name="portage-changes">Portage changes</a></h2> |
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<p>Until the <a class="reference" href="#update-tool">update tool</a> is integrated into portage there will be no code changes |
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to portage. The update tool might require a few new configuration options, these |
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could be placed in make.conf or another config file in /etc/portage.</p> |
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</div> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id10" id="rationale" name="rationale">Rationale</a></h1> |
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<p>The lack of automated security updates for Gentoo is one of the most often requested |
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features for portage as it is one of the standard features of other distributions. |
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As Gentoo already provides GLSAs for important security bugs it is only natural |
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to use these to implement this feature.</p> |
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<p>To parse a GLSA in a program the format needs to be specified and a parser has |
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to be written. I suggest the use of XML for future GLSAs for the following reasons:</p> |
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<ul class="simple"> |
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<li>can be parsed and validated with existing libraries</li> |
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<li>easy to extend while maintaining backwards compatibility</li> |
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<li>tools can convert XML GLSAs in other formats, the other direction would be harder</li> |
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<li>websites can use XSLT to markup GLSAs</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p>Putting the GLSAs in the portage tree allows all users to check their systems |
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for security updates without taking more actions and simplifies later integration |
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of the update tool into portage. For security minded persons the GLSAs are |
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available on a HTTP server to ease the load of the rsync servers.</p> |
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<p>To verify the signatures of the GLSAs the public keys of the developers should be |
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available in the portage tree and on the HTTP server. The verification is necessary |
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to prevent exploits by fake GLSAs.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id11" id="implementation" name="implementation">Implementation</a></h1> |
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<p>A prototype implementation (including the update tool, a DTD and a sample |
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XMLified GLSA) exists at <a class="reference" href="http://gentoo.devel-net.org/glsa/">http://gentoo.devel-net.org/glsa/</a> and in the |
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gentoo-projects/gentoo-security/GLSA repository. This GLEP is based |
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on that implementation, though it can be changed or rewritten if necessary.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id12" id="backwards-compatibility" name="backwards-compatibility">Backwards compatibility</a></h1> |
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<p>The current <a class="reference" href="#glsa-release-process">GLSA release process</a> needs to be replaced with this proposal. It |
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would be nice if old GLSAs would be transformed into XML as well, but that is |
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not a requirement for this GLEP.</p> |
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</div> |
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<div class="section"> |
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<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id13" id="copyright" name="copyright">Copyright</a></h1> |
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<p>This document has been placed in the public domain.</p> |
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</div> |
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</div> |
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<div class="footer"> |
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<hr class="footer" /> |
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<a class="reference" href="glep-0014.txt">View document source</a>. |
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Generated on: 2007-10-13 13:39 UTC. |
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Generated by <a class="reference" href="http://docutils.sourceforge.net/">Docutils</a> from <a class="reference" href="http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html">reStructuredText</a> source. |
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</div> |
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</body> |
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</html> |
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