[RFC] [PATCH] omnibus header cleanup

[RFC] [PATCH] omnibus header cleanup

[Nathan Myers]

Requesting advice...

Last week, I posted [1] patches ([2],[3]) to fix undisciplined macro 
definitions in 116 header files.  His Linusness has not picked them 
up, through several preN releases, nor commented.  I see four choices:

1. Keep posting the patches until they get picked up, or rot.

2. Split them up into four dozen separate patches, and pepper
   individual maintainers and Linus with them all, and check which 
   ones get in and which don't, and re-send the latter until they're
   all in.

3. Conclude that Linux maintainers are only interested in fixing 
   immediate causes of bugs that have already been reported.

4. Find some credible people willing to scan through the patches and 
   certify to Linus that they are Safe, Effective, and Not Destabilizing.

Choice (1) is hopeless.  (I have updated the patches for 2.4.15-pre9; 
the proposals for include/linux/pci.h had been picked up.)  Since 
choice (2) is about a hundred times as much work as I've already done 
on them, all of it administrative overhead, any sane person would 
choose (3) over (2).  

That leaves (4).  Who will scan one or both patches and certify them
for Linus?

There are certainly dozens of more-subtle bug sources (e.g. [4],[5]) in 
the kernel, and I would love to help smoke them out, but I can't afford 
to do that if it's a hundred times as much work to get the resulting 
patches accepted as to find and fix them in the first place.

Advice?  Certifiers?

Nathan Myers
ncm at cantrip dot org

[1] http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=100587948705950&w=2
[2] http://cantrip.org/omnibus-linux.diff
[3] http://cantrip.org/omnibus-includes.diff
[4] http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=100591078621276&w=2
[5] http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=linux-kernel&m=100633930427682&w=2

Re: [RFC] [PATCH] omnibus header cleanup

[Rik van Riel]

On Thu, 22 Nov 2001, Nathan Myers wrote:

> Last week, I posted [1] patches ([2],[3]) to fix undisciplined macro
> definitions in 116 header files.  His Linusness has not picked them
> up, through several preN releases, nor commented.  I see four choices:

Actually, just today he wrote that he'll only be applying
"life threatening" patches that fix real bugs, so I guess
something like your bug would be more of a thing to submit
once 2.5.0 is out ...

kind regards,

Rik
-- 
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Re: [RFC] [PATCH] omnibus header cleanup

[DevilKin]

At 19:58 22/11/2001 -0200, you wrote:
>On Thu, 22 Nov 2001, Nathan Myers wrote:
>
> > Last week, I posted [1] patches ([2],[3]) to fix undisciplined macro
> > definitions in 116 header files.  His Linusness has not picked them
> > up, through several preN releases, nor commented.  I see four choices:
>
>Actually, just today he wrote that he'll only be applying
>"life threatening" patches that fix real bugs, so I guess
>something like your bug would be more of a thing to submit
>once 2.5.0 is out ...

Or wait until the 2.4.x kernel tree is handed over to someone else, then 
you could try resubmitting these patches.
I can't blame Linux for wanting to get on with 2.5 :oPP (I'm looking 
forward to that, so I have numerous ways to screw my systems again :oPPPP)

DK

Re: [RFC] [PATCH] omnibus header cleanup

[Alan Cox]

#2 is #4, your certifiers are the maintainers