H. Mijail's Blog

MacOS sometimes asks you to accept some system extension / kext. Unfortunately it can be difficult to clarify why, which can be scary. Sometimes you will only get notified that the kext signed by XYZ has been updated, and then it's on you to find out how to relate XYZ to a specific file and functionality in your system. I have found myself in the situation a couple of times, so in case it helps others, here's my notes to connect signers with kexts. BEWARE, just because something is in my list doesn't mean that it's OK in your system; instead, I recommend that (1) you re-confirm my information and then (2) decide if this kext makes sense in your system. If you don't know why you have some kext, maybe you should just remove it.

Back in 2017 I had a kinda esoteric question about Ethernet NICs with less-than-frame latency, based on my experience with networking software and hardware, and the evidence for something "atypical" being in use by High Frequency Traders. So I posted my question to Stack Overflow. The question got a lot of pushback, which I found bizarre. It had to be moved across 3 SO sites... and finally it stayed in SO proper, where anyway the only response I got was my own, when some days later I found the necessary information myself. Aaand a couple of years of inactivity later, the question just got deleted. 🤷‍♂️ I thought it was an interesting question (else I wouldn't post it!); it was an interesting collection of pushback; and an interesting answer. So I saved them and here they are for posterity.