Re: [PATCH] SubmittingPatches: Increase the line length limit from 80 to 100 colums

Linus Torvalds
2012-02-03T21:28:20Z

On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 2:07 AM, Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu> wrote:
>
> The overwhelming majority of kernel developers have stopped
> using 80 col terminals years ago.

Quite frankly, I think we should still keep it at 80 columns.

The problem is not the 80 columns, it's that damn patch-check script
that warns about people *occasionally* going over 80 columns.

But usually it's bettre to have the *occasional* 80+ column line, than
try to split it up. So we do have lines that are longer than 80
columns, but that's not because 100 columns is ok - it's because 80+
columns is better than the alternative.

So it's a trade-off. Thinking that there is a hard limit is the
problem. And extending that hard limit (and thinking that it's "ok" to
be over 80 columns) is *also* a problem.

So no, 100-char columns are not ok.

Linus