From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from ms.lwn.net (ms.lwn.net [45.79.88.28]) (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 AC38C3C65F8; Mon, 23 Mar 2026 18:26:48 +0000 (UTC) Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; arc=none smtp.client-ip=45.79.88.28 ARC-Seal:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1774290412; cv=none; b=WQtHpFt/BPvK44tdWFs48HpKhBw3sDG40uXbNGHULh6QirYfpH3fC1wT+5ECniEhnRf/PMR96kPCf6hm7Pk7gqVUy2k1J6NsirRz4g+a3iqcdCn7ozHY1Y0l5fy2uRkv1GOSYdBB5xBVoZ2YkHQWi67n0ioRHmn6vNf1ZrvnZp4= ARC-Message-Signature:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1774290412; c=relaxed/simple; bh=ctxhL0EoDIes4yhQ0DlWROBqUDiwuTeaGzz8/lYlqJ4=; h=From:To:Cc:Subject:In-Reply-To:References:Date:Message-ID: MIME-Version:Content-Type; b=tSgE5y8UNljZNkSXnOhUY2iPUqSPjXLBgLTX9cYxkZP4CKxS4NChXV70djt9Xfpj7PSyZfFVyDgUtTFLbN09Lz4F/EtX5L5ohpr02By1kW66oJPsVMPJzvr1ZoBSJ7bfLHzr6ekgmFW6XImR97oG7gJFUuiSakaCe6HdytHsDaE= ARC-Authentication-Results:i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=none dis=none) header.from=lwn.net; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=lwn.net; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=lwn.net header.i=@lwn.net header.b=em8loEM9; arc=none smtp.client-ip=45.79.88.28 Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dmarc=pass (p=none dis=none) header.from=lwn.net Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=lwn.net Authentication-Results: smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=lwn.net header.i=@lwn.net header.b="em8loEM9" DKIM-Filter: OpenDKIM Filter v2.11.0 ms.lwn.net 332A24121A DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=lwn.net; s=20201203; t=1774290401; bh=1U75Mitxew/7je1vOC7vprzgj72LdNa+mUKxpq5rUTI=; h=From:To:Cc:Subject:In-Reply-To:References:Date:From; b=em8loEM9jWdj3PJVtjRTgN3/RsizjcMX303j6ocPIJIbd3HRN/GJJc6B6cMReTCWj 9QeMS72ZVHSef4aNzFc3ITTsaudH2TvnOZ+IKt1MgceimQb/SqPE0eMYXxUi+5LnwN hmrX/uTe16ii9vlaFmLYqYvqzBhNeJKbf5N/U7nDTnex6kUwqIw5nlq1HJ3vBmmeny LoHHf2hgCfJPbujJwtYrIw0nBBN/prCUW7yWpQd7C3uoYYLWy7/22ZQI+kmFB+PUZr MSfScCZhByM6aRgh+NwdUjhoVinI4ERKcrcRajhmmjGfPQvP2ZuO9nmSd/NIv+bJCs /4ocLKrGsvy+w== Received: from localhost (unknown [IPv6:2601:280:4600:27b::1fe]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange ECDHE (prime256v1) server-signature ECDSA (prime256v1) server-digest SHA256) (No client certificate requested) by ms.lwn.net (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 332A24121A; Mon, 23 Mar 2026 18:26:41 +0000 (UTC) From: Jonathan Corbet To: Rito Rhymes , Rito Rhymes , linux-doc@vger.kernel.org Cc: Shuah Khan , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [PATCH] docs: set canonical base URL for HTML output In-Reply-To: References: <20260321124907.8524-1-rito@ritovision.com> <87zf3zd2cs.fsf@trenco.lwn.net> Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2026 12:26:40 -0600 Message-ID: <87y0ji9zbz.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 "Rito Rhymes" writes: > The documentation site appears agnostic toward search engine > indexing because it neither opts out of indexed search for > compliant crawlers nor explicitly adds directives aimed at > optimizing for it. By being on the open web and not opting out, > it by default participates in the indexed web as a valid and standard > distribution surface for documentation. In that context, if > the site is part of the indexed web whether or not it actively > courts it, then using a low-cost standard signal like a canonical > URL is simply part of managing that reality responsibly. This sounds like perhaps an argument for lore.kernel.org to set this variable for its build; I think a reasonable case could be made for that. I think that the case for everybody else's build is rather weaker. > >> ...and how does it help all of the people who do their >> own docs builds? > > You accepted the favicon fix earlier but you could argue something > similar about it: > > "After someone downloads the Linux repo and runs the documentation > site locally, how does having the little logo visible in the browser > help them? Without it, will they not know they are viewing the Linux > documentation site?" Even a little penguin when viewing a locally generated file seems better than nothing. It has little to do with the web itself, and absolutely nothing to do with one specific web site. Thanks, jon