linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] mm/vmscan: restore zone_reclaim

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Date:   Mon, 29 Jun 2020 09:05:04 -0700
From:   Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@...el.com>
To:     Daniel Wagner <dwagner@...e.de>
Cc:     Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@...ux.intel.com>,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-mm@...ck.org,
        ben.widawsky@...el.com, alex.shi@...ux.alibaba.com,
        tobin@...nel.org, cl@...ux.com, akpm@...ux-foundation.org,
        stable@...nel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] mm/vmscan: restore zone_reclaim_mode ABI

On 6/29/20 8:53 AM, Daniel Wagner wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 29, 2020 at 07:36:15AM -0700, Dave Hansen wrote:
>> On 6/29/20 12:13 AM, Daniel Wagner wrote:
>>> I went to go add a new RECLAIM_* mode for the zone_reclaim_mode
>>> sysctl.
>>
>> This conveys my motivation.
> 
> You don't need to tell a story. 

Interesting!  I literally tell folks all the time that their changelogs
*should* tell a story. :)

I think this is clearly a case where you and I have differing personal
opinions on style.  I understand what you are asking for, and this is
usually a case where our friendly maintainers can help out of they have
a strong preference either way.

> As explained in the documetation 'Describe your changes', describe
> your change in imperative mood, e.g. something like
> 
>   "Add RECLAIM_* mode for the the zone_reclaim_mode sysctl."

This is my personal opinion, but I think this interpretation takes the
documentation a bit too literally.  The documentation speaking about
"imperative mood" applies specifically to the language about your fix,
it does not apply to the background.

It is there to encourage contributors to avoid some of the more passive
language like:

	This patch does blah....  This patch fixes blah...