Re: [PATCH] Remove errors caught by checkpatch.pl inkernel/kallsyms.c

From: Ingo Molnar
Date: Mon Feb 16 2009 - 09:19:41 EST



* Stefan Richter <stefanr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Ingo Molnar wrote:
> > * Stefan Richter <stefanr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> Furthermore, the changelog is bad (non-exiting in fact).
> >>
> >> The fact that the issues where discovered using checkpatch is absolutely
> >> uninteresting. The changelog should describe /what/ is fixed, [...]
> >
> > The commit log definitely needs enhancements but it's not uninteresting
> > at all what tools were used to arrive to a change. [...] if a
> > good and acceptable commit results out of a tool's usage then that tool
> > needs to be advertised some more.)
>
> Fine, then the author could mention it below the --- delimitor in the
> patch posting. The changelog however, as annotation of the source
> history, is not a billboard. We also don't describe for example that
> a nice cup of hot Earl Grey or whatever was vital to the creation of a
> patch.

Well there's a difference between a nice cup of tea (that really has no
direct connection to kernel development) and a tool that is in the Linux
kernel specifically for the purpose of helping keep code clean, and that
was used to come up with a cleanup.

We routinely mention Sparse, lockdep, Coverity, Coccinelle, kmemleak,
ftrace, kmemcheck and other tools as well when it motives to fix a bug
or uncleanliness. We routinely mention checkpatch as well when it
catches an uncleanliness in a submitted patch. It is absolutely fine to
mention checkpatch when it catches uncleanliness in code that already
got merged. I dont understand your point.

Ingo
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