[Oval-devel] Simplifying OVAL queries (removing arch section when not necessary)

[Javier Fernández-Sanguino Peña]

Hi there,

I've checked the latest SVN code and it is able to generate queries based on
the DSA data at the website. One thing that has been nagging me, however, is
this:

        <criteria comment='Release section' operator='AND'>
           <criterion comment='Debian 3.1 is installed' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:1'/>
           <criteria comment='Architecture depended section' operation='AND'>
           <criteria comment='Supported architectures section' operation='OR' >
           <criterion comment='s390 architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:2'/>
           <criterion comment='amd64 architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:3'/>
           <criterion comment='sparc architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:4'/>
           <criterion comment='m68k architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:5'/>
           <criterion comment='arm architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:6'/> 
           <criterion comment='i386 architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:7'/>
           <criterion comment='mips architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:8'/> 
           <criterion comment='ia64 architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:9'/>
           <criterion comment='alpha architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:10'/> 
          <criterion comment='powerpc architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:11'/> 
           <criterion comment='mipsel architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:12'/>
           <criterion comment='hppa architecture' test_ref='oval:org.debian.oval:tst:13'/>
           </criteria>

Debian 3.1 was released with full support of 11 architectures (see
http://www.debian.org/releases/sarge/), which does not include 'amd64', but
amd64 support was added in later in the release.

It does not seem useful, from my point of view, to add a "Supported
architectures section" when the OVAL description should apply to all
architectures released.

IMHO these definitions should be simplified to just ask if "Debian version X"
is installed if the list of architectures matches the list of official
architectures. This list can be obtained from the website or from 
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ch-detailed.en.html

- Debian 2.0: Intel i386 and Motorola 68000 (i386, m68k)
- Debian 2.1: Intel i386, Motorola 68000 series, Alpha and SUN Sparc
  (+alpha, +sparc)
- Debian 2.2: Intel i386, Motorola 68000 series, alpha, SUN Sparc, PowerPC
  and ARM 
  (+powerpc, +arm)
- Debian 3.0: Intel i386, Motorola 68000 series, alpha, SUN Sparc, PowerPC,
  ARM, HP PA-RISC, IA-64, MIPS, MIPS (DEC) and IBM s/390 
  (+s390, +mips, +mipsel, +hppa, +ia64)
- Debian 3.1: same as Debian 3.0 (amd64 support was added for security bugs
  later in the release but it was not 'officially' supported)
- Debian 4.0: AMD64, Intel i386, alpha, SUN Sparc, PowerPC,
  ARM, HP PA-RISC, IA-64, MIPS, MIPS (DEC) and IBM s/390
  (-m68k, +amd64)

Could it be possible to simplify the definitions and only present the
architecture section if the list of architectures is less than those
supported for a given release?


Regards

Javier

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