Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1030482Ab2EQWcY (ORCPT ); Thu, 17 May 2012 18:32:24 -0400 Received: from mail-wi0-f178.google.com ([209.85.212.178]:46876 "EHLO mail-wi0-f178.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S967208Ab2EQWcW (ORCPT ); Thu, 17 May 2012 18:32:22 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: <1337292816-10839-2-git-send-email-hjl.tools@gmail.com> References: <1337292816-10839-1-git-send-email-hjl.tools@gmail.com> <1337292816-10839-2-git-send-email-hjl.tools@gmail.com> From: Linus Torvalds Date: Thu, 17 May 2012 15:32:00 -0700 X-Google-Sender-Auth: VNiAuWN_EzUiitpSTIHW97fyTFs Message-ID: Subject: Re: [PATCH 01/10] Use __kernel_long_t in struct timex To: "H.J. Lu" Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-arch@vger.kernel.org, hpa@zytor.com, mingo@kernel.org, tglx@linutronix.de 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: 1525 Lines: 33 On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 3:13 PM, H.J. Lu wrote: > > Replace long with __kernel_long_t in struct timex for user space. I absolutely detest these types. I realize that we already have a few users, but just looking at these diffs *hurts*. It's disgusting. The whole __kernel_ prefix was a mistake, but it at least makes sense for certain things where it is really about some random kernel choice (ie __kernel_pid_t). Even there I despise it, because it's not really about "kernel choice", it's about just the real native type for uid_t - the fact that user-mode then occasionally screwed up because glibc has chosen crazy extended types is really not a "kernel" issue at all. So the naming in general is painful. When it comes to the x32 thing I think it's *doubly* wrong, because this isn't even about a "kernel choice". It's damn well the native machine word-size. The fact that a limited user-mode ABI then limits "long" to 32-bit is not the kernels problem. So I'd really like to see some discussion about naming. What does this have to do with "kernel"? Nothing. It's the native word-size of the machine, for crying out loud. The fact that some user interfaces may limit themselves is not a "user mode vs kernel" thing. 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/