linux-kernel - Re: [git pull] x86 changes for v2.6.27

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Date:	Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:57:47 -0700
From:	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>
To:	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
CC:	Ingo Molnar <mingo@...e.hu>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
Subject: Re: [git pull] x86 changes for v2.6.27

Linus Torvalds wrote:
> 
> Things like this _really_ irritate me:
> 
> 	Memtest (MEMTEST) [Y/n/?] (NEW) ?
> 
> why the hell is that defaulting to "on"?
> 
> The rule of thumb should be:
> 
> 	NO NEW FEATURES SHOULD _EVER_ DEFAULT TO 'ON'!
> 
> I do realize that developers always think that _their_ particular cool new 
> feature is so important that it should default to 'on', but that's always 
> the case, and it's _always_ wrong.
> 

I'm a bit surprised that you'd say that for something that is a 
hardware-testing feature that needs a command-line option to be enabled 
at runtime.  I have always presumed that the default value is the 
recommended value, and I would think that that is what most people would 
assume.

	-hpa
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