linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] lib: Extend kstrtobool() to accept "true"/"false"

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Date:   Tue, 30 Jun 2020 19:38:23 -0700
From:   Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
To:     Pavel Machek <pavel@....cz>
Cc:     Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>,
        Borislav Petkov <bp@...en8.de>,
        Srinivas Pandruvada <srinivas.pandruvada@...ux.intel.com>,
        rjw@...ysocki.net, viresh.kumar@...aro.org, lenb@...nel.org,
        dsmythies@...us.net, tglx@...utronix.de, mingo@...hat.com,
        hpa@...or.com, linux-pm@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, x86@...nel.org, jic23@....ac.uk,
        keescook@...omium.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] lib: Extend kstrtobool() to accept "true"/"false"

On Mon, 29 Jun 2020 14:09:38 +0200 Pavel Machek <pavel@....cz> wrote:

> > Extend the strings recognised by kstrtobool() to cover:
> > 
> >   - 1/0
> >   - y/n
> >   - yes/no	(new)
> >   - t/f		(new)
> >   - true/false  (new)
> >   - on/off
> 
> Is it good idea to add more values there? It is easy to do, but... we don't want
> people to use this by hand, and ideally everyone would just use 1/0...
> 
> I also see potential for confusion... as in echo off > enable_off_mode (ok, this is
> with existing code, but...)
> 
> Plus, if programs learn to do "echo true > ..." they will stop working on older kernels.

I'm inclined to agree with this, It is indeed an invitation to write
non-back-compatible userspace and it simply makes the kernel interface
more complex.