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Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

dmitrybrant.com

1–10 of 343 posts

Re: Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

#2
Neat stuff. I just got Claude code and am training myself on Rails, I'm excited to have assistance working through some ideas I have and seeing it handle this kind of iterative testing is great.

One note: I think the author could have modified sudoers file to allow loading and unloading the module* without password prompt.

Re: Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

#3
A good case study. I have found these two to be good categories of win:

> Use these tools as a massive force multiplier of your own skills.

Claude definitely makes me more productive in frameworks I know well, where I can scan and pattern-match quickly on the boilerplate parts.

> Use these tools for rapid onboarding onto new frameworks.

I’m also more productive here, this is an enabler to explore new areas, and is also a boon at big tech companies where there are just lots of tech stacks and frameworks in use.

I feel there is an interesting split forming in ability to gauge AI capabilities - it kinda requires you to be on top of a rapidly-changing firehose of techniques and frameworks. If you haven’t spent 100 hours with Claude Code / Claude 4.0 you likely don’t have an accurate picture of its capabilities.

“Enables non-coders to vibe code their way into trouble” might be the median scenario on X, but it’s not so relevant to what expert coders will experience if they put the time in.

Re: Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

#4

Neat stuff. I just got Claude code and am training myself on Rails, I'm excited to have assistance working through some ideas I have and seeing it handle this kind of iterative testing is great. One note: I think the author could have modified sudoers file to allow loading and unloading the module* without password prompt.

... which would allow you to load arbitrary code into the kernel, pretty much bypassing any and all security. You might as well not have a password at all. Which, incidentally, can be a valid strategy for isolated external dev boards, or QEMU VMs. But on a machine with stuff you care about? You're basically ripping it open.

Re: Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

#6
post #4

Neat stuff. I just got Claude code and am training myself on Rails, I'm excited to have assistance working through some ideas I have and seeing it handle this kind of iterative testing is great. One note: I think the author could have modified sudoers file to allow loading and unloading the module* without password prompt.

... which would allow you to load arbitrary code into the kernel, pretty much bypassing any and all security. You might as well not have a password at all. Which, incidentally, can be a valid strategy for isolated external dev boards, or QEMU VMs. But on a machine with stuff you care about? You're basically ripping it open.

He was already loading "arbitrary" Claude code, no? I'm suggesting there was a way to skip password entry by narrowly tailoring an exception.

Another thought, IIRC in the plugins for Claude code in my IDE, you can "authorize" actions and have manual intervention without having to leave the tool.

My point is there were ways I think they could have avoided copy/paste.

Re: Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

#7
post #4

Neat stuff. I just got Claude code and am training myself on Rails, I'm excited to have assistance working through some ideas I have and seeing it handle this kind of iterative testing is great. One note: I think the author could have modified sudoers file to allow loading and unloading the module* without password prompt.

... which would allow you to load arbitrary code into the kernel, pretty much bypassing any and all security. You might as well not have a password at all. Which, incidentally, can be a valid strategy for isolated external dev boards, or QEMU VMs. But on a machine with stuff you care about? You're basically ripping it open.

[deleted]

Re: Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

#8
post #4

Neat stuff. I just got Claude code and am training myself on Rails, I'm excited to have assistance working through some ideas I have and seeing it handle this kind of iterative testing is great. One note: I think the author could have modified sudoers file to allow loading and unloading the module* without password prompt.

... which would allow you to load arbitrary code into the kernel, pretty much bypassing any and all security. You might as well not have a password at all. Which, incidentally, can be a valid strategy for isolated external dev boards, or QEMU VMs. But on a machine with stuff you care about? You're basically ripping it open.

[deleted]

Re: Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

#9
post #4

Neat stuff. I just got Claude code and am training myself on Rails, I'm excited to have assistance working through some ideas I have and seeing it handle this kind of iterative testing is great. One note: I think the author could have modified sudoers file to allow loading and unloading the module* without password prompt.

... which would allow you to load arbitrary code into the kernel, pretty much bypassing any and all security. You might as well not have a password at all. Which, incidentally, can be a valid strategy for isolated external dev boards, or QEMU VMs. But on a machine with stuff you care about? You're basically ripping it open.

[deleted]

Re: Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver

#10

Neat stuff. I just got Claude code and am training myself on Rails, I'm excited to have assistance working through some ideas I have and seeing it handle this kind of iterative testing is great. One note: I think the author could have modified sudoers file to allow loading and unloading the module* without password prompt.

Claude is really good with frameworks like Rails. Both because it’s probably seen a lot of code in its training set, and because it works way better when there is a very well defined structure
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