Re: [PATCH] sched.h: increment TASK_COMM_LEN to 20 bytes

From: Jeff Garzik
Date: Fri Jul 07 2006 - 13:08:50 EST


Luben Tuikov wrote:
Andrew,

If this patch is so much affecting Garzik, please drop it.

As to "merged users in the kernel" -- my code is GPL, and at one point
was in the -mm tree as maintained by yourself.

Currently it also implements a SAT-r08a complient SCSI/ATA Translation
Layer for a SAS Stack including SATA capabilities adjustment as advertized
by the protocol, NCQ, passthrough, etc, etc. (Garzik may see this as
objectionable as it is not "libata", but it cannot be due to architectural
hurdles.)

Anyway, kernel threads bear the name of STP/SATA bridge which is representable
in 16+1 ASCII chars (IEEE NAA Registered format identifier, 8 bytes), and thus
the last character (4 bits of the name) are chopped off in a 15+1 char array.

Your patch increases the size of a key data structure -- task struct -- for all users on all platforms, even when there are _no_ users currently in the kernel.

It is thus wasted space, for all users on all platforms.

Linux development doesn't work like this. We don't know the future, until it happens.

Thus, this patch is appropriate when there are real users in the kernel, and not before.

Jeff


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