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📰 NEWS for procutils-test / procax25

Version 1.0.0 (YYYY-MM-DD)

Enhancements and Verification

This release introduces the procax25 diagnostic tool, designed to validate the functions within the AX.25 library,
particularly following the introduction of the header line for /proc/net/ax25.

⚠️ Detected Inconsistencies Across Linux Systems

The use of procax25 has highlighted implementation and formatting differences in the /proc/net/ax25 output across
various Linux distributions. These inconsistencies affect the reliability of data parsing without a robust parser.

1. Line Ordering (Socket Indexing)

The order in which AX.25 sockets are reported in /proc/net/ax25 is not consistent across different systems:

    Typical Behavior (e.g., Ubuntu): Connections are often listed in ascending order of their creation or internal index.

    Reversed Behavior (e.g., Raspberry Pi OS / Certain Kernels): The same list may be returned in reverse order.

    Note: The procax25 application systematically reverses the linked list after reading to present the sockets in a
    consistent order (most recent or most active first) to the end-user.

2. Number Base of Numeric Fields

The formatting of certain numeric fields is not strictly enforced as hexadecimal or decimal by all kernel implementations, leading to ambiguity:
Field	Expected Format	Inconsistent Distribution (Example)	Note
INODE	Hexadecimal (%08lx)	Decimal (%lu) on Raspberry Pi OS	The inode value should ideally be displayed in hexadecimal.
T3	Hexadecimal	Decimal on Raspberry Pi OS	The T3 timer value is formatted inconsistently.
N2	Hexadecimal	Decimal on Raspberry Pi OS	The N2 counter value is formatted inconsistently.

    Action Required: The read_proc_ax25 function in the library must be robust and attempt to read these values using either decimal or hexadecimal base.
    If the MAGIC field is not in base 16, it can also be an indicator that all numeric fields are being output in base 10.
    The procax25 tool relies on the library parser to handle these conversions.