2005-05-03 13:58:24

by Bodo Eggert

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Subject: Re: [2.6 patch] Kconfig: rename "---help---" to "help" in Kconfig files (first part)

Roman Zippel <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue, 3 May 2005, Adrian Bunk wrote:

>> IMHO, Kconfig files are quite readable due to this indentation even
>> though only a minority of the entries was using "---help---" even
>> before this patch.
>
> So why exactly has to be removed? Is it ugly?

IMO yes, it's less readable for me than "help". ??
--
Fun things to slip into your budget
TRUE: $3000 for light bulb rotation


2005-05-04 10:59:05

by Robert P. J. Day

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: [kbuild-devel] Re: [2.6 patch] Kconfig: rename "---help---" to "help" in Kconfig files (first part)

On Tue, 3 May 2005, Bodo Eggert <[email protected]> wrote:

> Roman Zippel <[email protected]> wrote:
> > On Tue, 3 May 2005, Adrian Bunk wrote:
>
> >> IMHO, Kconfig files are quite readable due to this indentation even
> >> though only a minority of the entries was using "---help---" even
> >> before this patch.
> >
> > So why exactly has to be removed? Is it ugly?
>
> IMO yes, it's less readable for me than "help". ??

the main problem with having two alternatives for the same thing (in
*any* context) is that it gives beginners a distorted sense of what is
acceptable usage.

if you accept both "help" and "---help---", then you just *know* that
a beginner will notice that and start thinking, "hmmm ... well, if
both of those are alright, maybe "--help--" or "-help-" is alright,
too. and maybe it's just the leading hyphens that really count, not
the trailing hyphens. and maybe ..."

kbuild is already over-convoluted as it is. please don't give folks
even more redundant ways to do exactly the same thing.

rday