Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1756387Ab1CNT7g (ORCPT ); Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:59:36 -0400 Received: from smtp1.linux-foundation.org ([140.211.169.13]:58619 "EHLO smtp1.linux-foundation.org" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1751895Ab1CNT7f (ORCPT ); Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:59:35 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <20110314192445.GD20259@home.goodmis.org> References: <4D7E095802000078000363D5@vpn.id2.novell.com> <4D7E4338.1060302@zytor.com> <20110314192445.GD20259@home.goodmis.org> From: Linus Torvalds Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:58:43 -0700 Message-ID: Subject: Re: PATCH: Add --size-check=[error|warning] To: Steven Rostedt Cc: "H. Peter Anvin" , Jan Beulich , sedat.dilek@gmail.com, Alan Modra , Ingo Molnar , "H.J. Lu" , Thomas Gleixner , Andrew Morton , binutils , LKML Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1517 Lines: 31 On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 12:24 PM, Steven Rostedt wrote: > > If it was a bug in asm, but binutils can cope with it, then it should be > a warning. If binutils can't cope, then error. I think this is the really fundamental issue: anybody who makes a hard error out of something that is recoverable is a total moron. We have that in the kernel too - I've berated people for using BUG_ON() _much_ too eagerly. If you make a hard error out of something, that just makes things much much harder to handle, and is just a big inconvenience for everybody. Why do it? In the kernel, a hard error (like BUG_ON()) tends to result in a system that is unusable and makes logging things harder. And in development tools, a hard error just means that you stop _everybody_, whether the user is a developer or just a tester who can't realistically fix it (or a developer who is not involved in that area). And even for developers who _are_ directly involved, a hard error stops the build, instead of just letting it continue and help him see if there are perhaps _other_ cases that should also be fixed. So anybody who makes something a hard error when it's not required is just being a STUPID. It hurts everybody. Don't do it. Linus -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/