Assuming you're actually proposing that every possible library is listed in the ELF and loaded before the executable starts by the OS' loader, I would encourage you to try writing an AppArmor or seccomp profile that bans `dlopen` and see how many of your favorite applications still run. This is a completely unserious take that continues to misread the motivations of the RFC (it's not about security) and couldn't even be applied even to just the core of most actually used Linux userlands without an absurd amount of work (think of PAM modules and friends).
Also, have I really misspoken? I was under the impression that many corporations with interests in proprietary software (including Microsoft) are regular contributors to the Linux kernel and ecosystem, but if I'm wrong I'd love to know the details.
The comments here suggest otherwise. It certainly can't provide a security function.
>Assuming you're actually proposing that every possible library is listed in the ELF and loaded before the executable starts by the OS' loader,
I didn't propose that but certainly the ability to load and execute code from anywhere is a vulnerability waiting to happen. Not being able to accurately enumerate dependencies is also an issue. If the OS was solely responsible for locating and loading dependencies, you could analyze any executable in isolation and get a definitive list of dependencies.
>I would encourage you to try writing an AppArmor or seccomp profile that bans `dlopen` and see how many of your favorite applications still run.
Just because it is that way now doesn't mean it needs to be.
>Also, have I really misspoken? I was under the impression that many corporations with interests in proprietary software (including Microsoft) are regular contributors to the Linux kernel and ecosystem, but if I'm wrong I'd love to know the details.
They do make contributions. But large corporations aren't "anyone" and their contributions are not unquestionable. They do have their own interests which are in conflict with the broader open-source ecosystem.
Also, have I really misspoken? I was under the impression that many corporations with interests in proprietary software (including Microsoft) are regular contributors to the Linux kernel and ecosystem, but if I'm wrong I'd love to know the details.