Re: [PATCH] 0/3 coding standards documentation/code updates

[Al Viro <viro@ftp.linux.org.uk>]

On Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 10:24:01PM -0400, Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:18:05 PDT, Linus Torvalds said:
> 
> > "CodingStyle" should be about the big issues, not about details. Yes, 
> > we've messed that up over the years, but let's not continue that.
> > 
> > In other words, I'd suggest *removing* lines from CodingStyle, not adding 
> > them. The file has already gone from a "good general principles" to "lots 
> > of stupid details". Let's not make it worse.
> 
> I think there needs to be a "sense of fairness" attached here - CodingStyle
> should cover all the stuff maintainers/reviewers are allowed to whinge about.
> Otherwise, we get maintainers whinging about undocumented style rules, and
> we get code submitters who are unhappy because they have no real way to tell
> if their code really *is* stylistically lacking, or if they just have a
> jerk maintainer who wants to keep their code out-of-tree for political
> reasons.

... and no matter how many rules you put down, it's still possible to
write a code that will be awful stylistically while adhering to all of
them.  Religiously.

IOW, it's not going to eliminate that kind of fights.