There's a good argument to not have this in the std lib but it's more
work to remove it than to leave it in, and this branch is already
20,000+ lines changed.
It's better to avoid references to this global variable, but, in the
cases where it's needed, such as in std.debug.print and collecting stack
traces, better to share the same instance.
Maintaining the POSIX `stat` bits for Zig is a pain. The order and
bit-length of members differ between all architectures, and int types
can be signed or unsigned. The libcs deal with this by introducing the
own version of `struct stat` and copying the kernel structure members to
it. In the case of glibc, they did it twice thanks to the largefile
transition!
In practice, the project needs to maintain three versions of `struct
stat`:
- What the kernel defines.
- What musl wants for `struct stat`.
- What glibc wants for `struct stat64`. Make sure to use `fstatat64`!
This isn't as simple as running `zig translate-c`. In #21440 I had to:
- Compile toolchains for each arch+glibc/musl combo.
- Create a test `fstat` program with/without `FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64`.
- Dump the value for `struct stat`.
- Stare at `std.os.linux`/`std.c` and cry.
- Add some missing padding.
The fact that so many target checks in the `linux` and `posix` tests
exist is most likely due to writing to padding bits and failing later.
The solution to this madness is `statx(2)`:
- It takes a single structure that is the same for all arches AND libcs.
- It uses a custom timestamp format, but it is 64-bit ready.
- It gives the same info as `fstatat(2)` and more!
- Unlike `fstatat(2)`, you can request a subset of the info required
based on passing a mask.
It's so good that modern Linux arches (e.g. riscv) don't even implement
`stat`, with the libcs using a generic `struct stat` and copying from
`struct statx`.
Therefore, this commit rips out all the `stat` bits from `std.os.linux`
and `std.c`. `std.posix.Stat` is now `void`, and calling
`std.posix.*stat` is an compile-time error. A wrapper around `statx` has
been added to `std.os.linux`, and callers have been upgraded to use it.
Tests have also been updated to use `statx` where possible.
While I was here, I converted the mask and file attributes to be packed
struct bitfields. A nice side effect is checking that you actually
recieved the members you asked for via `Statx.mask`, which I have used
by adding `assert`s at specific callsites.
There is no straightforward way for the Zig team to access the Solaris system
headers; to do this, one has to create an Oracle account, accept their EULA to
download the installer ISO, and finally install it on a machine or VM. We do not
have to jump through hoops like this for any other OS that we support, and no
one on the team has expressed willingness to do it.
As a result, we cannot audit any Solaris contributions to std.c or other
similarly sensitive parts of the standard library. The best we would be able to
do is assume that Solaris and illumos are 100% compatible with no way to verify
that assumption. But at that point, the solaris and illumos OS tags would be
functionally identical anyway.
For Solaris especially, any contributions that involve APIs introduced after the
OS was made closed-source would also be inherently more risky than equivalent
contributions for other proprietary OSs due to the case of Google LLC v. Oracle
America, Inc., wherein Oracle clearly demonstrated its willingness to pursue
legal action against entities that merely copy API declarations.
Finally, Oracle laid off most of the Solaris team in 2017; the OS has been in
maintenance mode since, presumably to be retired completely sometime in the 2030s.
For these reasons, this commit removes all Oracle Solaris support.
Anyone who still wishes to use Zig on Solaris can try their luck by simply using
illumos instead of solaris in target triples - chances are it'll work. But there
will be no effort from the Zig team to support this use case; we recommend that
people move to illumos instead.
Ryan Liptak