• 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.
-16 points

I will fight tooth and nail with anyone who agrees with this decision. Not because Torvalds did it, but because fuck you use tabs you goddamn neanderthals

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7 points

Your word choice reminds me of Linus before he went into this kind of rehab thing.

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Yeah I liked him better then /s

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22 points

Notice Linus doesn’t use tabs; he just thinks the parser shouldn’t die when it sees them.

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Yeah and that makes sense. But I still choose to die on the hill of tabs or nothing. That’s just how anal I am about my code.

And I realize there are niche scenarios where tabs don’t make sense, but I could care less about those. Afaik, even assemblers support tabs. If you have tabs, I feel it is almost sacrilegious not to use them for indentation.

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9 points

This isn’t about using one or the other, it’s about not exploding when you encounter a tab.

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-5 points

Tabs are a dark pattern confirmed.

The war is over, long live spaces.

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80 points

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.

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34 points
*

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!

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13 points

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

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6 points
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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.

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1 point

This is amazing

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3 points

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.

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34 points

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

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12 points
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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 …

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10 points

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.

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279 points
*

“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.”

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12 points

I think your keyboard is broken. It’s inserting random stars in your text.

Anti Commercial-AI license

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9 points

Dude. Censoring profanity ain’t as cringe as licensing a fucking Lemmy comment XD

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-4 points
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4 points

Can’t we just all come together and agree that they’re both cringe

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32 points

Yours is too, its posting a silly link at the bottom which makes you look like you’re a Facebook mom in 2003.

Dear Mark Zuckerberg

With this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308- 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute. NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tacitly allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates. FACEBOOK DOES NOT HAVE MY PERMISSION TO SHARE PHOTOS OR MESSAGES.

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4 points

Complaining about PC but type the word “fuck”? Genius.

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17 points

Why are you censoring your own text? Truly baffling.

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-3 points

Because… there’s moderation on lemmy that doesn’t like certain words :P

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14 points

I promise, you can say shit, ass and fuck

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4 points

Not on your instance.

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21 points

The Gordon Ramsey of programing

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234 points

And honestly, I find his phrasing today far more damming with its conciseness. It screams leadership.

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144 points

Thanks for your insight, fartsparkles.

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4 points
*
Removed by mod
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7 points

I need more fartsparkles in my life.

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27 points

Please make fartsparkles the new rimjobsteve. Pretty please?

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2 points

Indeed 😂😂

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1 point

Well, I do miss the “fuck you mauro” livid linus, yes, nowadays he goes more for ‘brevity is the wit of soul’

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22 points

Yeah, I can’t stop laughing at

If you can’t parse tabs, you can’t have page sizes.

It’s like how I’d admonish my pet

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9 points
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No-no-no. “Whoever can’t handle tabs as whitespaces should heat their IQ, it is below freezing right now”. Or classic “should be retroactively aborted”.

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4 points

Nice one. Maybe e can make a website “whatwouldlinussay.com”?

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3 points

The associated forum post contains a much more endearing translation.

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11 points

WE DO NOT BREAK USERSPACE

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15 points

Invalid, not an ABI change. Besides, this does not break, it only reveals existing breakage.

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Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word “Linux” in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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