From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from smtp.kernel.org (aws-us-west-2-korg-mail-alma10-1.taild15c8.ts.net [100.103.45.18]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.subspace.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D15C03B1ED0; Wed, 9 Sep 2026 18:47:34 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.client-ip=100.103.45.18 ARC-Seal:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1788979656; cv=none; b=r2ogf2pKav/TRto2PPZX5Yr3LdNWKvIRns6hMvpmZlyNT2HLht71nYsVALC5PFWpPMT9g1RW+i91oZ80BNq+GmXxbb+ry2P7AGD+rovXauHW+eaV0nvJlWpGi9MwfBLMPhqXTxd2nkzYoBdKJHZVTUzrzpZfCjCn/FsXmu55E5E= ARC-Message-Signature:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1788979656; c=relaxed/simple; bh=sL3B7wZjGBX9YpvcTWSBIBSgWNdiji5vX7p8DXbv3hA=; h=Date:From:To:Cc:Subject:Message-ID:References:MIME-Version: Content-Type:Content-Disposition:In-Reply-To; b=G8Xk1RTP8YUuUHA0H/bvDbr94nIRIqse6tpNGvIR2zFXMkyJPkmPHnVIiujQefQMaOnfCaQ2wAPrBzdsse9rTFT+bdJLwlxe7tjDbbhC2RnBwLu8XE/Uqy6x/mm2b34bWYfBoiwSJlBw2lYcxp3O0WJxkgDvPQKky+SYLWxAvSk= ARC-Authentication-Results:i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.b=ofsZyvnW; arc=none smtp.client-ip=100.103.45.18 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.b="ofsZyvnW" Received: by smtp.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 92FDB1F000FF; Wed, 9 Sep 2026 18:47:34 +0000 (UTC) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=kernel.org; s=k20260515; t=1788979654; bh=LNmsyxAoQC/kdl71kAyyiQ/6erPFpnJPO1ZIQdzCFIg=; h=Date:From:To:Cc:Subject:References:In-Reply-To; b=ofsZyvnW7+YUVEMh2Foj+pkLLQJL/6I/2nW60lQ1oQHipnkqkGLMtzA3zNBHwyPIs sMU6F5AVkj4FApxxg525JukuiJVHQxuYOdFB87MIZhu9usxYPAsoelHoiUZvytFPu4 +S+PzrKGT9LLH/RGBF2BtqlQHmxo9XoVfjvM4YNO6H/SwRLTqIslswChMtUkzNnfAE 65iEZlUZ6knFCFM09eyvVwfLa8xU/Q9b7P2/nkoE9iO6vVRhdjp5IivocvqxzgovSy ac9hMprGRSEJ8udGMvDxtYKWgRCg0eUhYjKZ9q5binRe/XUTBzW40z50yAG2WMNUP0 7L4extHN+zV8A== Date: Wed, 9 Sep 2026 11:47:34 -0700 From: Kees Cook To: Jonathan Corbet Cc: Ruben Sutton , linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, Shuah Khan , Randy Dunlap , Thorsten Leemhuis , workflows@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, regressions@lists.linux.dev Subject: Re: [PATCH] docs: process: use gender-neutral pronouns Message-ID: <202609091143.0B34CB0E1@keescook> References: <20260909144100.78177-1-ruben@scstudios.tech> <87pkymlao3.fsf@trenco.lwn.net> Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <87pkymlao3.fsf@trenco.lwn.net> On Wed, Sep 09, 2026 at 09:14:04AM -0600, Jonathan Corbet wrote: > Ruben Sutton writes: > > > Several process documents use gendered pronouns when referring > > generically to developers and maintainers. Use singular they instead, > > making the language inclusive without changing its meaning. > > > > Leave pronouns referring to named people and text in attributed > > quotations unchanged. > > > > Assisted-by: LLM > > Signed-off-by: Ruben Sutton > > --- > > Documentation/process/2.Process.rst | 2 +- > > Documentation/process/5.Posting.rst | 2 +- > > Documentation/process/6.Followthrough.rst | 2 +- > > Documentation/process/handling-regressions.rst | 2 +- > > Documentation/process/howto.rst | 2 +- > > Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst | 2 +- > > 6 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) > > Ouch. > > I have no objection in principle to this change, but if we try to clean > up the whole kernel in this way we're going to have a *lot* of churn > and, undoubtedly, some unpleasant discussions at some point. > > I'm tempted to raise this question at the maintainers summit to see if I > can get some sort of project-wide policy laid out. FWIW, I'd agree "indefinite they" (or "singular they") is the right language here: "his or her" is both annoying to read (too many words) and non-inclusive. Using "their" solves both. -Kees -- Kees Cook