Why does a critical utility like this need Python, Ruby, and Perl? Scripting languages intended for applications development, with their interpreters and libraries and dependencies, expand the attack surface beyond anyone's ability to consider all of the security holes.
pabs3 4 hours ago [-]
When you upgrade a Python module to fix a security vulnerability, you need to restart the Python processes that loaded it. So needrestart supports scanning all processes on the system to see if they are Python processes and if they loaded the Python modules that were upgraded. Same goes for Ruby and Perl, microcode and more.
The alternative approach is to just reboot after every upgrade like on Windows. That can be disruptive in some situations so needrestart was created to only restart the things that need restarting.
gregjor 4 hours ago [-]
I see. I question the wisdom of using Python, Ruby, Perl etc. for system-level utilities in the first place but that train left the station a long time ago.
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The alternative approach is to just reboot after every upgrade like on Windows. That can be disruptive in some situations so needrestart was created to only restart the things that need restarting.