linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] nohz1: Documentation

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Message-ID: <20130321160015.GA10992@pd.tnic>
Date:	Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:00:15 +0100
From:	Borislav Petkov <bp@...en8.de>
To:	"Paul E. McKenney" <paulmck@...ux.vnet.ibm.com>
Cc:	Steven Rostedt <rostedt@...dmis.org>,
	Frederic Weisbecker <fweisbec@...il.com>,
	Rob Landley <rob@...dley.net>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	josh@...htriplett.org, zhong@...ux.vnet.ibm.com,
	khilman@...aro.org, geoff@...radead.org, tglx@...utronix.de,
	Arjan van de Ven <arjan@...ux.intel.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] nohz1: Documentation

On Thu, Mar 21, 2013 at 08:18:11AM -0700, Paul E. McKenney wrote:
> Actually, this is a generic transformation. Given an English verb,
> you almost always add "ing" to create a noun. Since "round-robin" is
> used as a verb,

... which sounds, in this case, weird IMHO. :-)

> as in "The scheduler will round-robin between the two SCHED_RR
> tasks",

I think the "correct" way to say it is "The scheduler will select tasks
in a round-robin fashion..." But while it is correct (for some accepted
definition of correct), this is slow, has too many words and we don't
want that - we want fast! We want a lot less instructions in the pipe!
This way, we burn a lot less energy when talking. :-)

> "round-robining" may be used as a noun denoting the action
> corresponding to the verb "round-robin". There is no doubt an
> argument as to whether this should be spelled "round-robining" or
> "round-robinning", but I will leave this to those who care enough to
> argue about it. ;-)

Hey sir, you're preaching to the choir - I'm all for doing all kinds of
weird/funny experiments with language...

> The thing about English is that it is an open-source language, and
> always has been. English is defined by its usage, and the wise
> dictionary-makers try their best to keep up.

... yes, and then there are the English language Nazis who wouldn't
allow that - their rules are stricter than software APIs and breaking
userspace compatibility.

Technical people, OTOH, are much more willing and not afraid to take the
language and mold it in such a form so that it works for them instead of
adhering to ancient rules. Which is cool. That's why I was pointing out
the "round-robining" - nice and cool. And look how much shorter it is:

round-robining = iterate over the items on a list by periodically
switching from one to the next in a circular order.

Now imagine the pressure on I$ the two versions create. And compare. :-)

> (The unwise ones attempt to stop the evolution of the English
> language.) Everything good and everything bad about English stems from
> this property. ;-)

Yeah, I've had to deal with enough of those evolution-stopping idiots
during my days at the university. Well, I've got three words for them:
"Resistance is futile!"

:-)

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

Sent from a fat crate under my desk. Formatting is fine.
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