linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH v2] staging: rtl8712: remove unused variable from rtl871x

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Date:   Thu, 8 Apr 2021 08:29:00 -0600
From:   Edmundo Carmona Antoranz <eantoranz@...il.com>
To:     Sergei Krainov <sergei.krainov.lkd@...il.com>
Cc:     Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@...inger.net>,
        florian.c.schilhabel@...glemail.com,
        Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
        linux-staging@...ts.linux.dev, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        kernel-janitors@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] staging: rtl8712: remove unused variable from rtl871x_mlme.c

On Thu, Apr 8, 2021 at 6:10 AM Sergei Krainov
<sergei.krainov.lkd@...il.com> wrote:
> No side effects can be seen locally or in r8712_find_network()

I am sorry to jump in. Sergei, what Greg is asking is basically why
you want to delete the r8712_find_network call in the first place.
Deleting an unused variable is fine, but the problem here is that you
are _also_ deleting a call to a function that _probably_ does some
things that, even if you want to get rid of the variable, you would
probably like to keep on doing (and so the call would remain). Is that
call really not doing anything relevant? That's what you will have to
explain in the patch in order for it to make sense.

As a side note on top of the question about the call, it's not like
the variable is not being used. It's used right after the call to
r8712_find_network to check the result of the call... so is the real
purpose of the patch to remove the call in the first place and then
having the variable removed because there is no point in having it if
the call goes away?

I hope that helps.