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 8693D23D7F4 for ; Sat, 1 Aug 2026 23:24:34 +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=1785626675; cv=none; b=HOvVcfPTZF9XAKunU7ilWyFNg4Gz3c0wl6GXBGtBkH/7tBtZxonjgd4koroe4dt/lK/x/HqRIIiyJep0Sn6ijOcAQltxCnK5H57MSJBlQded+lzon4OCvAUmZLJUWC2fdeZrh48OhnHYUQyd14Y2GmMASy0HbjcfZnOh40jjSdw= ARC-Message-Signature:i=1; a=rsa-sha256; d=subspace.kernel.org; s=arc-20240116; t=1785626675; c=relaxed/simple; bh=pBovAh84lH9MMe2Lp4+D6e7zrG3FJagE9wJRutVg6L8=; h=Date:From:To:Cc:Subject:Message-ID:References:MIME-Version: Content-Type:Content-Disposition:In-Reply-To; b=W1OzGBo9+8vlJ9QpzjDIluqqAXwz05ClPOfnD1TuIc8oQxyZ7HLznuRbQ7mXT9g2UP/NYLPZW/pRYfDjZOtKVEwOJr0pRpp5jgSk6W801w2neY+8WDC9HDkLh5v+04EEFOoC5Y8F8X+a6Rc9rYKBY4uOr467Gp6oOcxpYMkwZrc= ARC-Authentication-Results:i=1; smtp.subspace.kernel.org; dkim=pass (2048-bit key) header.d=kernel.org header.i=@kernel.org header.b=Vfj7hHdi; 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="Vfj7hHdi" Received: by smtp.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 1ED151F00AC4; Sat, 1 Aug 2026 23:24:30 +0000 (UTC) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=kernel.org; s=k20260515; t=1785626674; bh=JxbPyP3oYrXwaQ3VMg7kntAJw4Lb+PvDEXrCuFNMdMI=; h=Date:From:To:Cc:Subject:References:In-Reply-To; b=Vfj7hHdiAOASobOgdrW+bVxT0ZHeQDD86ecSkYl2GIHTxyMRd23LPIZNJre2Hvovf VpPA8FU5jSmT7M2A1+9TRYltAKt3b4xGLCXZCPFOTIXSHIXGQged2KJ04C+1YjyQFl RVuN7P2Hr7pVc8mCRIbm3h6viWmYI9D4rdz1nn9FxozPhLEUimBo3TWTbF29xPyCE9 hz7seRhxH213whlHx/UwycwDzPZ0e47cf2GuPvaJAnzzoPxUpEGcf3pPsyzYMdwx17 ufgfYftvkSh3Xa2Hv/yfBK0+kbc5z2l5YzlUd8s0Lx4IQ8y5BgVsYWCx4QwRBm40mf WSs+mn/zKwbrA== Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2026 01:24:28 +0200 From: Alejandro Colomar To: Keith Bostic Cc: Sam James , "G. Branden Robinson" , Joseph Myers , linux-man@vger.kernel.org, Mark Harris , Nevin Liber , JeanHeyd Meneide , Christopher Bazley , "Serge E. Hallyn" , Iker Pedrosa , "Evgeny Grin (Karlson2k)" , Kees Cook , bug-gnulib@gnu.org, libc-alpha@sourceware.org, Douglas McIlroy Subject: Re: on the irresponsibility of pursuing C language reform Message-ID: References: <20260731215122.4p4aepsbgeoibx74@illithid> <87a4r6es6k.fsf@gentoo.org> <87y0epdhxp.fsf@gentoo.org> <87zez5bz49.fsf@gentoo.org> Precedence: bulk X-Mailing-List: linux-man@vger.kernel.org List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha512; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="t3w6bondjdkqh4v2" Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: --t3w6bondjdkqh4v2 Content-Type: text/plain; protected-headers=v1; charset=utf-8 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable From: Alejandro Colomar To: Keith Bostic Cc: Sam James , "G. Branden Robinson" , Joseph Myers , linux-man@vger.kernel.org, Mark Harris , Nevin Liber , JeanHeyd Meneide , Christopher Bazley , "Serge E. Hallyn" , Iker Pedrosa , "Evgeny Grin (Karlson2k)" , Kees Cook , bug-gnulib@gnu.org, libc-alpha@sourceware.org, Douglas McIlroy Subject: Re: on the irresponsibility of pursuing C language reform Message-ID: References: <20260731215122.4p4aepsbgeoibx74@illithid> <87a4r6es6k.fsf@gentoo.org> <87y0epdhxp.fsf@gentoo.org> <87zez5bz49.fsf@gentoo.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: Hi Keith, > Date: 2026-08-02 00:44:46+0200 > From: Alejandro Colomar > [...] > > Advocating for better usage in the documentation is a different thing, = and > > a good thing. The man pages can even go pretty hard, that=E2=80=99s the= ir job: > > =E2=80=9CNotice the include file is string.h. That=E2=80=99s an histori= c accident > > maintained for compatibility reasons; don=E2=80=99t let that fool you, = this > > function doesn=E2=80=99t operate on strings.=E2=80=9D >=20 [...] > I should probably expand the NOTES a little bit, to be more clear about > why we ignore the standard in the SYNOPSIS. I've put that text in a centralized place, in the memory.h(3head) manual page: $ MANWIDTH=3D64 diffman-git HEAD --- HEAD^:man/man3head/memory.h.3 +++ HEAD:man/man3head/memory.h.3 @@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ SYNOPSIS #include =20 DESCRIPTION + These functions are also provided in , as speci=E2=80=90 + fied by ISO C. This is a historic accident maintained for + compatibility reasons. Don=E2=80=99t let that fool you; these + functions don=E2=80=99t necessarily operate on strings. + Write bzero(3) memset(3) @@ -38,6 +43,19 @@ DESCRIPTION memrchr(3) memmem(3) =20 +STANDARDS + BSD. + +HISTORY + The header file is the original one which was + added in System V (1983), and was later adopted by 4.3BSD + (1986). It contained the original mem* functions. + + C89 didn=E2=80=99t standardize this header file, and instead + crammed all these functions in , resulting in + confusing programmers about the real purpose of these + functions. + SEE ALSO string(3), string_copying(7) =20 Cheers, Alex --=20 --t3w6bondjdkqh4v2 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAABCgAdFiEES7Jt9u9GbmlWADAi64mZXMKQwqkFAmpugCsACgkQ64mZXMKQ wqmsRxAAop9BVkx0F7aSMM8fBE7JFeh4W5fGNOjxupaL4pQBmQCwZCMKMgnN4Cge l7Rw3z48hJMLjkKqtDZZ8X9Gti4dkMrP/keA4noSZqmD31kUlw+hRO2kK5e45GQ8 Jj+KkP1pum8XIYsNeRw1QwYdn8vGEKgItAGeNIG/4Aq3PptHL1kNDi/E4pXeMHaL 7I/MBJYMPeKpMCx6hJKk7BZsmymslD+STHo0ytkjlNYPknyXvvY0lnA4aTJ5AhSw oI2BMKQtR6gdG+0Gfff8oglJ9+7cXDkmcYf1IIrDWv6UWBz8CRmdiRkBOD9y9wzO KWXEgQLeqvp/RrLy3odYyXPy/dIZ+WijuBlyn7vnqONwiCOFeHMzGtCk7yeKl1nX aKsKX4XL1ZldUZYnzn0PiiJ+hB0y3xiF6UuLWZr5DQP+yuXSJtNXbEMUGvG5tGUp QeEiechrgi2nmiVm3NzVuicTlmnjF4otjlF1xwT1YEDo8GeBH5wxVChC4bnn6K+V vsLuQkXMu11Di4NlyFwTYUvfBlMCagdFbK4JCBUDTMgThYpn/qr79IG75AzXHIMc szL8VEvH99/2juqcDGJ7upTVpLMf2J4mPWMWSNqoHNQ5vletV6rs7ssd26pm4Dt/ RyK/xy0V3atpSarcrzkBMU8wp9JCIUMh3bQjfS1GLcRnPrP6hWk= =d3mx -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --t3w6bondjdkqh4v2--