Add signal.SIGSTKFLT constant (Linux)

[gareth-rees]

BPO	45643
Nosy	@vstinner, @gareth-rees, @thesamesam
PRs	bpo-45643: Add signal.SIGSTKFLT on platforms where this is defined. #29266

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2021-12-13.17:24:43.151>
created_at = <Date 2021-10-28.10:31:03.862>
labels = ['type-feature', 'library', '3.11']
title = 'Add signal.SIGSTKFLT constant (Linux)'
updated_at = <Date 2021-12-13.17:25:08.566>
user = 'https://github.com/gareth-rees'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2021-12-13.17:25:08.566>
actor = 'vstinner'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2021-12-13.17:24:43.151>
closer = 'vstinner'
components = ['Library (Lib)']
creation = <Date 2021-10-28.10:31:03.862>
creator = 'gdr@garethrees.org'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 45643
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 4.0
messages = ['405174', '406460', '408467', '408468']
nosy_count = 3.0
nosy_names = ['vstinner', 'gdr@garethrees.org', 'thesamesam']
pr_nums = ['29266']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'fixed'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = 'enhancement'
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue45643'
versions = ['Python 3.11']

[gareth-rees]

BACKGROUND

On Linux, "man 7 signal" includes SIGSTKFLT in its table of "various other signals":

Signal     Value   Action  Comment
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SIGSTKFLT  -,16,-   Term   Stack fault on coprocessor (unused)

Here "-,16,-" means that the signal is defined with the value 16 on x86 and ARM but not on Alpha, SPARC or MIPS. I believe that the intention was to use SIGSTKFLT for stack faults on the x87 math coprocessor, but this was either removed or never implemented, so that the signal is defined in /usr/include/signal.h but not used by the Linux kernel.

USE CASE

SIGSTKFLT is one of a handful of signals that are not used by the kernel, so that user-space programs are free to use it for their own purposes, for example for inter-thread or inter-process pre-emptive communication.

Accordingly, it would be nice if the name SIGSTKFLT were available in the Python signal module on the platforms where the signal is available, for use and reporting in these cases.

[gareth-rees]

Tagging vstinner as you have touched Modules/signalmodule.c a few times in the last year. What do you think?

[vstinner]

New changeset a62be77 by Gareth Rees in branch 'main':
bpo-45643: Add signal.SIGSTKFLT on platforms where this is defined (GH-29266)
a62be77

[vstinner]

I merged your PR, thanks!

I'm curious how people use this signal :-)