Re: [PATCH v3] getrlimit.2: old_getrlimit/ugetrlimit and RLIM_INFINITY discrepancies

G. Branden Robinson
2021-07-30T00:51:24Z

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At 2021-07-30T02:14:56+0200, Eugene Syromyatnikov wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 30, 2021 at 12:35 AM G. Branden Robinson
> I'd stick with the current "constant" usage for brevity: system
> headers do not tend to employ const symbols, especially
> kernel-provided ones, for reasons, so "constant" meaning is more or
> less clear in the section 2 with that regard, albeit not totally
> technically sound with respect to the C language.

That's fair. I don't expect all my reformist suggestions to be adopted.
:)

> > > +However, in order to preserve backward compatibility, the routine
> >
> > s/routine/function/ ?
>
> I followed syscalls(2) naming convention here.

Also a fair point. Yes, I see that usage is fairly thick in the "NOTES"
section.

> > I call this a "Kemper notectomy", after my colleague in groff
> > development, Dave Kemper, who has pointed out that we tend to
> > massively overuse the phrase "note that" in software documentation.
> > We write for impatient readers. Everything we say in a manual
> > should be worthy of note; if it is not, it should be deleted or
> > moved to a place in the text reserved for supplemental commentary (a
> > footnote; a (sub)section entitled "Background", "History", or
> > "Notes"; or similar).
>
> This is literally the "Notes" section, though.

True--I wasn't aware of that before. But by that token, you could say
that the "note that" phrase is now redundant for a different reason. ;-)

It's not a big deal--I mention it because I've found it a useful prompt
to myself when writing: when I want to say, "note that", what am I
_really_ trying to say? "Pay attention here"? "Danger, Will
Robinson!"? Usually I wind up either dropping "note that" or recasting
the sentence to more clearly motivate why a statement is worthy of
special attention.

Regards,
Branden

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