Reinstantiating the FIPS_mode macro - distributions community poll outcome
Dear colleagues, we had a poll in the Distributions community about reinstating the FIPS_mode() macro.
The outcome was positive, so I would like to bring this question to the Board. The exact semantics of the macro is debatable but it definitely should be meaningful - smth like "If openssl works properly, it uses FIPS-approved algos in the default context", see https://github.com/openssl/openssl/pull/30339
Reinstating FIPS_mode() with meaningful semantics
poll by Dmitry Belyavsky Closed Fri 17 Apr 2026 5:00PM
The poll indicates clear support to this idea.
@Anton Arapov @Tim Hudson - as we discussed at today's BAC/Board meeting please consider this idea. My personal opinion is the macro should be reinstantiated not later than in 4.2 (planned LTS)
Poll question: do you support raising the question of reinstating FIPS_mode() with meaningful semantics to the Board for a public position?
Please leave a comment, especially if your answer is no.
Results
| Results | Option | % of points | Voters | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 100 | 2 |  | |||
| No | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Undecided | 3 |   |
2 of 5 votes cast (40% participation)
Kevin Micciche ·Sat 18 Apr 2026 3:12PM
Apologies as I did not see the poll closing time of 1pm yesterday. My vote would be 'yes' . For the reasons provided within the pull request I would concur with other vendors.