linux-kernel - Re: Trailing periods in kernel messages

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Date:	Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:22:50 -0500
From:	Theodore Tso <tytso@....edu>
To:	Alan Cox <alan@...rguk.ukuu.org.uk>
Cc:	Joe Perches <joe@...ches.com>, Andy Whitcroft <apw@...dowen.org>,
	Li Zefan <lizf@...fujitsu.com>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Frans Pop <elendil@...net.nl>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	tglx@...utronix.de, trivial@...nel.org,
	Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@...otime.net>,
	Joel Schopp <jschopp@...tin.ibm.com>
Subject: Re: Trailing periods in kernel messages

On Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 09:54:11PM +0000, Alan Cox wrote:
> > Kernel messages do not have to be terminated with a period.
> 
> This piece of the document is wrong. It should also be changed. I've no
> idea how such a ludicrous statement ever got into the Coding Style but I
> have never seen it discussed and an archive search suggests it just
> sneaked in without any kind of approval and discussion the list.
> 
> Kernel messages are in English. Let us keep it that way. Missing
> punctuation is equated by many parts of the English speaking world with
> poor quality, sloppy products and low levels of education. These are not
> things with which we wish to be associated IMHO.

Um, what?  Kernel messages are *not* in English.

Take a look at a machine after it is freshly booted.  The following
messages are *not* English:

[    0.000000] BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 0000000000000000 - 0000000000099800 (usable)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 0000000000099800 - 00000000000a0000 (reserved)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 00000000000d6000 - 00000000000d8000 (reserved)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 00000000000e0000 - 0000000000100000 (reserved)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 0000000000100000 - 00000000bf6b0000 (usable)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 00000000bf6b0000 - 00000000bf6cc000 (ACPI data)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 00000000bf6cc000 - 00000000bf700000 (ACPI NVS)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 00000000bf700000 - 00000000c0000000 (reserved)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 00000000f0000000 - 00000000f4000000 (reserved)
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 00000000fec00000 - 00000000fec10000 (reserved)

Do you really want to turn that into complete English sentences?

Or how about these?

[   15.069322] IP route cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
[   15.069830] TCP established hash table entries: 131072 (order: 8, 1048576 bytes)
[   15.070448] TCP bind hash table entries: 65536 (order: 9, 2359296 bytes)
[   15.077264] TCP: Hash tables configured (established 131072 bind 65536)
[   15.077278] TCP reno registered
[   15.086122] checking if image is initramfs... it is
[   15.846658] Freeing initrd memory: 7114k freed

Again, not sentences, and I don't think making every single printk a
gramatically valid sentence is a good thing.  Or even necessary.  And
in some cases, it would make the kernel messages harder to parse by an
automated log parser.

					- Ted
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