Re: linux-next: manual merge of the vfs tree with the parisc-hd tree

[Xiaoming Ni]

On 2020/5/11 9:11, Stephen Rothwell wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Today's linux-next merge of the vfs tree got a conflict in:
>
>    kernel/sysctl.c
>
> between commit:
>
>    b6522fa409cf ("parisc: add sysctl file interface panic_on_stackoverflow")
>
> from the parisc-hd tree and commit:
>
>    f461d2dcd511 ("sysctl: avoid forward declarations")
>
> from the vfs tree.
>
> I fixed it up (see below) and can carry the fix as necessary. This
> is now fixed as far as linux-next is concerned, but any non trivial
> conflicts should be mentioned to your upstream maintainer when your tree
> is submitted for merging.  You may also want to consider cooperating
> with the maintainer of the conflicting tree to minimise any particularly
> complex conflicts.


Kernel/sysctl.c contains more than 190 interface files, and there are a 
large number of config macro controls. When modifying the sysctl 
interface directly in kernel/sysctl.c , conflicts are very easy to occur.

At the same time, the register_sysctl_table() provided by the system can 
easily add the sysctl interface, and there is no conflict of 
kernel/sysctl.c .

Should we add instructions in the patch guide (coding-style.rst 
submitting-patches.rst):
Preferentially use register_sysctl_table() to add a new sysctl 
interface, centralize feature codes, and avoid directly modifying 
kernel/sysctl.c ?

In addition, is it necessary to transfer the architecture-related sysctl 
interface to arch/xxx/kernel/sysctl.c ?

Thanks
Xiaoming Ni