• Linus Torvalds added hidden tabs to Kconfig to challenge parsers that can’t handle them.
  • Tabs were intentionally added to the common Kconfig file for page sizes to expose faulty parsers.
  • Torvalds believes parsers unable to handle tabs shouldn’t be parsing kernel Kconfig files, aiming to force fixes.
  • PanoptiDon@lemmy.world
    0·
    7 months ago

    Reminds me of Beethoven writing Für Elise for sometime he loved, and when he was rejected, the music was finished in such a way that she could not play it.

  • iAvicenna@lemmy.world
    0·
    7 months ago

    I am no kernel or parsing expert here but how hard would it be to convert tabs to spaces? Is it like very finicky and is weirdly platform dependent that it wouldn’t just be one of the first things that you do if you are writing a parser for anything?

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Within yesterday’s Linux 6.9-rc4 release is an interesting little nugget by Linus Torvalds to battle Kconfig parsers that can’t correctly handle tabs but rather just assume spaces for whitespace for this kernel configuration format.

    Due to a patch having been queued last week to replace a tab with a space character in the kernel tracing Kconfig file, Linus Torvalds decided to take matters into his own hand for Kconfig parsers that can’t deal with tabs… Torvalds authored a patch to intentionally add some tabs of his own into Kconfig for throwing off any out-of-tree/third-party parsers that can’t correctly handle them.

    Torvalds added these intentional hidden tabs to the common Kconfig file for handling page sizes for the kernel.

    Torvalds wrote in the patch: "Commit d96c36004e31 (“tracing: Fix FTRACE_RECORD_RECURSION_SIZE Kconfig entry”) removed a hidden tab because it apparently showed breakage in some third-party kernel config parsing tool.

    Yes, tab-vs-space confusion is sadly a traditional Unix thing, and ‘make’ is famous for being broken in this regard.

    I’d add more random tabs to our Kconfig files, but I don’t want to make things uglier than necessary.

    The original article contains 308 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 40%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • TCB13@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    “if you can’t parse tabs as whitespace, you should not be parsing the kernel Kconfig files.” ~ Linus Torvalds

    This is what we got after people sent him into PC training. The OG Linus would say something like “if you’re a piece of s* that can’t get over your a** to parse tabs as whitespace you should be ashamed to walk on this planet let alone parsing the kernel Kconfig files. What a f* waste of space.”

  • BigMikeInAustin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    7 months ago

    I do the same to people who refuse to follow specifications they agreed to follow.

    There is a slight satisfaction to get back at them for continually delivering much lower quality than is required.

    But it really is to cover me. Because, it always happens, later in the future that edge case comes up, and everything breaks. And management is ready to blame me. But then I show them that I tested the edge case before the conclusion of the project. And that programmer ignored my emails, and that I told management these edge cases weren’t covered. But then management signed off on calling it complete. And suddenly management is no longer red with fury. And they usually won’t allow me time to fix it. So the can gets kicked down the road until the next time that edge case fails.

    • luciferofastora@lemmy.zip
      0·
      7 months ago

      Me: “This is the file format we agree on.”
      They: “Yep, that’s what you’ll get.”

      They: “Why is your script not working?”
      Me: “Idk what was the last file you put through it?”

      In their defense, they got the file from a third party that we both previously assumed competent enough to follow explicit written instructions. Guess there’s a lesson in trust…

  • tooLikeTheNope@lemmy.ml
    0·
    7 months ago

    Torvalds believes parsers unable to handle tabs shouldn’t be parsing kernel Kconfig files, aiming to force fixes.

    Stern but just

  • palordrolap@kbin.social
    0·
    7 months ago

    The Robustness Principle may seem like little more than a suggestion, but it is the foundation on which many successful things are based.

    To boil it down to meme-level old-school Torvaldsry: Assume everyone else is a f–king idiot who can barely do what they’re supposed to and expect to parse their files / behaviour / trash accordingly.

    If you do not do this, you are, without doubt, one of those f–king idiots everyone else is having to deal with. If you do do this, it does not guarantee that you are not a f–king idiot. Awareness is key.

    Examples where this works: Web browser quirks mode; Driving a car; Measure twice, cut once. This latter one is special because it reveals that often, the f–king idiot you’re trying to deal with is yourself.

    Assume everyone else is worse.

    Fun corollary: In altering his behaviour towards f–king idiots people who should know better, Linus has learned to apply the robustness principle to interpersonal communication.

      • mino@lemmy.ml
        0·
        7 months ago

        I don’t understand this either. There’s no fucking algorithm overlord here right? No fucking tiktok, youtube bullshit required.

        If you want to say fuck, fucking say fuck.

        On another note. Thx for introducing me to the robustness principle ♥️

        • palordrolap@kbin.social
          0·
          7 months ago

          Maybe I want to say it without saying it. There’s no rule against doing that, but people somehow think there is - or that there ought to be.

          Most of the time I don’t swear, so it makes me uncomfortable to use the word. There have been and undoubtedly will be exceptions. When the mood takes me. When the word, unfettered, feels right. Today was not that day.

          Funny how the partial omission offends some people more than the original word does. Adapt your parsers.

          • half_built_pyramids@lemmy.world
            0·
            7 months ago

            On the fediverse we do not have to worry about upsetting coka cola or spez because a swear appeared next to their advertisement or name. Not that many people care about that elsewhere, but we especially don’t care about it here. I think that’s worth calling attention to every once in a while. It doesn’t always have to be swears as the vehicle to remind us that the power dynamic is different here.

            It’s fucking nice to be reminded there no corpo overlords here sometimes, though. Which is ironic that sometimes the foss benevolent dictators for life aren’t always benevolent.

            • VirtualOdour@sh.itjust.works
              0·
              7 months ago

              Yeah though I have to admit I like it when people self censor because I imagine them like a cute Ned Flanders all flustered ‘well dang diddly h - e - double C!’

              But yeah it’s nice that platform’s exist simply for people to express themselves rather than to serve as vehicles for advertising. I’ll say fuck to celebrate that!

            • palordrolap@kbin.social
              0·
              7 months ago

              It’s not about whether other people are willing to accept it. It’s about whether I’m willing to generate it. This is the other half of the principle.

              • WldFyre@lemm.ee
                0·
                7 months ago

                But you still used it, no one’s confused about what word you meant. It’s such an odd line to draw IMO.

                It’s like the “anal doesn’t count as REAL sex” nonsense, but for cussing lol

                • blind3rdeye@lemm.ee
                  0·
                  7 months ago

                  Obviously the semi-censored version isn’t the same - otherwise you wouldn’t be talking about it. And the author has told you that it was a stylistic choice to use that different version. That’s enough, isn’t it? And judging by the reactions here, apparently the semi-censored version is even more hard-hitting than the full word!

                  Swearing is used for emphasis and to invoke a reaction. The attention it has brought here seems to show that it has invoked a reaction and captured people’s attention. Maybe that drawing of attention means it was fit for purpose - or maybe not. In any case, it was the choice of the author to do it like that.

            • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              0·
              7 months ago

              Oh, BS. You don’t have to worry about swearing on Reddit either. Yes, reddit sucks, but the censoring of words on there isn’t like TikTok.

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
        0·
        7 months ago

        Sometimes it works well as a stylistic choice. It’s not pretending not to use a bad word, but rather drawing attention to the fact that you’re deliberately being a little bit naughty with a wink to the reader. It’s like the absurdity of what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps.

  • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
    0·
    7 months ago

    I’ll take you up on that. ChatGPT, translate this commit message to actual Linus style:

    Subject: Regarding Commit d96c36004e31

    So apparently, this commit thought it was a brilliant idea to strip away a tab because some third-rate kernel config parsing tool couldn’t handle it. Seriously? We’re bending over backward for these tools now?

    Listen up, if your parsing tool throws a tantrum over a tab, it’s time to rethink your life choices. Tabs are as fundamental to Kconfig files as oxygen is to humans. If you can’t handle tabs, you have no business parsing kernel configurations.

    And let’s not pretend this is some isolated incident. The whole tab vs. space saga is like a bad sitcom rerun from the '70s. Sure, ‘make’ might have its quirks, but that doesn’t mean we should stoop to that level of incompetence.

    I’m tempted to flood our Kconfig files with tabs just to prove a point, but let’s not make a mess where it’s not needed. However, if this idiocy persists, don’t be surprised if I start tabbing everything in sight.

    Let’s get our priorities straight, people. We’re building a kernel here, not babysitting fragile parsing tools. So let’s fix this mess and move on to more important things.

    • Exec@pawb.social
      1·
      7 months ago

      I’m tempted to flood our Kconfig files with tabs just to prove a point, but let’s not make a mess where it’s not needed. However, if this idiocy persists, don’t be surprised if I start tabbing everything in sight.

      This is genius.

    • Noa Himesaka@lemmy.funami.tech
      0·
      7 months ago

      I tried it with Claude 3 Opus, even better:

      Alright, listen up you little shits. Commit d96c36004e31 (“tracing: Fix FTRACE_RECORD_RECURSION_SIZE Kconfig entry”) had to remove a fucking hidden tab because apparently some half-assed third-party kernel config parsing tool couldn’t handle its shit.

      I don’t know what kind of brain-dead tool it was, but you better make damn sure it gets fixed. Because if you can’t parse tabs as whitespace, you have no fucking business parsing the kernel Kconfig files, period.

      In fact, let’s rub this breakage right in your face, more than some obscure ftrace record size option. If you can’t handle tabs, you sure as hell can’t handle page sizes either, dipshit.

      Yeah, I know the whole tab-vs-space clusterfuck is sadly a classic Unix thing, and ‘make’ is notorious for being a broken piece of crap in that regard. But guess what? That doesn’t make it fucking okay, got it?

      I’d sprinkle more random tabs all over our Kconfig files just to spite you, but I don’t want to make this codebase look any more like dog vomit than it has to. But if I keep seeing more of this kind of idiotic tooling, I just might fucking have to.

      So shape up, or I’ll come over there and shove those tabs so far up your ass you’ll be shitting spaces for a week. Fuck!

      • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
        0·
        7 months ago

        I feel like the other one is much better because of the slight passiveness and colorful expressions.

        • uis@lemm.ee
          0·
          7 months ago

          So shape up, or I’ll come over there and shove those tabs so far up your ass you’ll be shitting spaces for a week.

          Hah.

    • CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      7 months ago

      Listen up, if your parsing tool throws a tantrum over a tab, it’s time to rethink your life choices. Tabs are as fundamental to Kconfig files as oxygen is to humans. If you can’t handle tabs, you have no business parsing kernel configurations.

      Heh this is so succinctly scathing, but also dead on …

    • kill_dash_nine@lemm.eeEnglish
      0·
      7 months ago

      “ok, now add a metric shit ton of swearing and further belittle parsers who can’t deal with tabs.”

    • Gallardo994@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      7 months ago

      I am more than sure that Linus wrote the original message as he would normally do, and then made it clean and pretty with an AI. Sometimes I resort to this option too.

  • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
    0·
    7 months ago

    I also like to use tabs. I use them in my code and lists. I like tapping a key that immediately makes an obvious whitespace. This is very helpful to me for readability of nested stuff.

    I also hate YAML even though I make a lot of tasks/roles/playbooks in ansible.

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      7 months ago

      Yeah, same, but I always set my editor to insert spaces instead when I hit Tab, so that the spacing won’t be different in other environments.

      • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
        0·
        7 months ago

        I apologize. I didn’t know I had replies when I deleted my post. Yeah I know you can set that behavior in some editors. And other than what I just replied with on another comment, I like tabs because I also don’t have to worry about styling guides that some set down as ‘2 spaces’ or ‘3 spaces’ or ‘5 spaces’ or whatever. It is basically just universally a horizontal tab.

    • rollmagma@lemmy.world
      0·
      7 months ago

      People who use spaces are not taping space space space space space space space space. Their tapping the tab key all the same.

      • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
        0·
        7 months ago

        Sorry I didn’t realize I had replied with I deleted my comment. I understand some editors allow you to set tab and you can set actual spaces, like in vi. However, personally I feel like hitting tab gives me the whitespace I want for readability already.

        For programmatic parsing it is simple because it’s just looking for an HT.