Message-ID: <87r19oxx87.fsf@meer.lwn.net>
Date:   Mon, 03 Jan 2022 15:36:56 -0700
From:   Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>
To:     linux-doc@...r.kernel.org
Cc:     linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH] docs: discourage use of list tables

Our documentation encourages the use of list-table formats, but that advice
runs counter to the objective of keeping the plain-text documentation as
useful and readable as possible.  Turn that advice around the other way so
that people don't keep adding these tables.

Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>
---
 Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst | 11 +++++------
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst b/Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst
index 673cbb769c08..bb36f18ae9ac 100644
--- a/Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst
+++ b/Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst
@@ -261,12 +261,11 @@ please feel free to remove it.
 list tables
 -----------
 
-We recommend the use of *list table* formats. The *list table* formats are
-double-stage lists. Compared to the ASCII-art they might not be as
-comfortable for
-readers of the text files. Their advantage is that they are easy to
-create or modify and that the diff of a modification is much more meaningful,
-because it is limited to the modified content.
+The list-table formats can be useful for tables that are not easily laid
+out in the usual Sphinx ASCII-art formats.  These formats are nearly
+impossible for readers of the plain-text documents to understand, though,
+and should be avoided in the absence of a strong justification for their
+use.
 
 The ``flat-table`` is a double-stage list similar to the ``list-table`` with
 some additional features:
-- 
2.33.1

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