linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] Documentation: Add patch-validator to dev-tools

lists.openwall.net		lists / announce owl-users owl-dev john-users john-dev passwdqc-users yescrypt popa3d-users / oss-security kernel-hardening musl sabotage tlsify passwords / crypt-dev xvendor / Bugtraq Full-Disclosure linux-kernel linux-netdev linux-ext4 linux-hardening linux-cve-announce PHC
Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Hash Suite: Windows password security audit tool. GUI, reports in PDF.

[<prev] [next>] [thread-next>] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Message-Id: <20250717162948.23078-1-ignacio.pena87@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2025 12:29:48 -0400
From: Ignacio Peña <ignacio.pena87@...il.com>
To: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>
Cc: linux-doc@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] Documentation: Add patch-validator to dev-tools

On Thu, Jul 17, 2025 at 09:38:00AM -0600, Jonathan Corbet wrote:
> Interesting ... overall, we don't generally have detailed documentation
> for out-of-tree utilities, though there isn't necessarily any reason why
> we couldn't.  But I'm curious as to why you haven't submitted the tool
> itself?

That's a great question! I kept it external for a few reasons:

First, I'm still pretty new to kernel development and wanted the freedom
to iterate quickly as I learn what checks are actually useful. Being 
external means I can push updates immediately when someone points out
a new common mistake (like Greg just did with the date check!).

Second, I wrote everything in bash for simplicity, which probably isn't
the best fit for the kernel's scripts/ directory. Plus, as Greg mentioned
in his reply, many of these checks really belong in checkpatch.pl rather
than a separate tool.

So my plan now is to work on patches for checkpatch.pl to add the most
useful checks there (where they belong), while keeping the workflow 
helpers as an external toolkit.

Given this direction, would you prefer I withdraw this documentation 
patch? I'm happy either way - just thought it might help other newcomers
in the meantime, but I totally understand if you'd rather wait until
the checks are properly integrated into checkpatch.pl.

Thanks for reviewing this!

Thanks,
Ignacio