linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] x86: avoid confusion over the new RESCTRL config prompt

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Date:   Wed, 30 Jan 2019 00:08:45 +0100
From:   Borislav Petkov <bp@...e.de>
To:     Johannes Weiner <hannes@...xchg.org>
Cc:     Babu Moger <babu.moger@....com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        Fenghua Yu <fenghua.yu@...el.com>,
        Reinette Chatre <reinette.chatre@...el.com>,
        Tony Luck <tony.luck@...el.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH] x86: avoid confusion over the new RESCTRL config prompt

On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 05:52:18PM -0500, Johannes Weiner wrote:
> "Resource Control" is a very broad term for this CPU feature, and a
> term that is also associated with containers, cgroups etc. This can
> easily cause confusion.
> 
> Make the user prompt more specific.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Johannes Weiner <hannes@...xchg.org>
> ---
>  arch/x86/Kconfig | 4 ++--
>  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> 
> As somebody who works in "resource control", this prompt in oldconfig
> certainly had me go wtf. Can we do something more specific?

Well, since this is an interface to a hardware feature, we could call it

Hardware Resource Control

for example. I.e., HW_RESCTRL.

Linus had another suggestion - CPU_RESCTRL - which sounds ok to me too.

> Not insisting on this name, and I haven't renamed all the config
> symbols yet, but we should probably fix this before 5.0 is released.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> diff --git a/arch/x86/Kconfig b/arch/x86/Kconfig
> index 26387c7bf305..426677b759c0 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/Kconfig
> +++ b/arch/x86/Kconfig
> @@ -447,11 +447,11 @@ config RETPOLINE
>  	  support for full protection. The kernel may run slower.
>  
>  config X86_RESCTRL
> -	bool "Resource Control support"
> +	bool "x86 cache control support"

Except that it is not only cache but memory (bandwidth) control too. So I guess

	bool "CPU Resource Control support"

or so.

Let the bikeshedding begin!

:-)

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

SUSE Linux GmbH, GF: Felix Imendörffer, Jane Smithard, Graham Norton, HRB 21284 (AG Nürnberg)