linux-kernel - Re: Slow DOWN, please!!!

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Message-Id: <20080501125843.61adbe20.akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Date:	Thu, 1 May 2008 12:58:43 -0700
From:	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
To:	Al Viro <viro@...IV.linux.org.uk>
Cc:	torvalds@...ux-foundation.org, rjw@...k.pl, w@....eu,
	davem@...emloft.net, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	jirislaby@...il.com
Subject: Re: Slow DOWN, please!!!

On Thu, 1 May 2008 20:37:14 +0100
Al Viro <viro@...IV.linux.org.uk> wrote:

> 	* patches should be visible *when* *they* *can* *be* *changed*.
> If it's "Linus had pulled from linux-foo.git and that included a merge
> from linux-foobar.git, which is developed on foobar-wank@...l.knows.where",
> it's too late.  It's not just that you don't revert; it's that you _can't_
> realistically revert in such situation - not without very massive work.
> And I don't know what _can_ be done about that, other than making it
> socially discouraged.  To some extent it's OK, but my impression is that
> some areas are as bad as CVS-based "communities" had been and switch to
> git has simply hidden the obvious signs of trouble...

Yup.  I think the only sane+scalable way of making this happen is to
prevail upon the 100-odd subsystem maintainers to keep an eye out for code
which should be exposed to additional eyes.

There are of course many reasons _why_ such code needs the attention of
others, and those reasons have varying strengths.  Off the top of my head:

- modifies stuff outside the designated subsystem (eg: lib/pcounter.c -
  thanks Pavel)

- (having just spent an hour looking at drivers/net/sfc/ and having
  boggled at its bitmap.h): adds generic-looking infrastructure which
  should be in core kernel.  Or already _is_ in core kernel.

- Adds any kernel<->user interface which is not of the the most
  trivial&standard form

- Futzes with memory management internals, adds pagefault handlers, etc.

- Ditto vfs things, I guess

- In any way attempts to work around _any_ shortcoming of any other part
  of the kernel!

- Does anything RCU related.  Every time I cc Paul on an rcu-using patch,
  he finds holes in it.

- add your own here.



But we won't find such code by going out and looking for it - we do need
the recipients of that code to say "hey, others might want to see this". 
That's very low-effort for the hey-sayer, so I expect we can do better here
quite easily.

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