Messages in this thread | | | Date | Thu, 23 Jun 2005 11:32:07 -0700 | From | Tim Bird <> | Subject | Re: PATCH: "Ok" -> "OK" in messages |
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> >>- putstr("Uncompressing Linux... "); > >> + putstr("Linux " UTS_RELEASE); > >> gunzip(); > >> - putstr("Ok, booting the kernel.\n"); > >> + putstr("\n"); > >>
� wrote: >>Language neutrality is not a goal for kernel messages, >>that I'm aware of. > > Of course this is true, but I think this very one is an exception: this > is the only one seen when booting with the "quiet" kernel option or > using some shiny bootlogo patches, both of which is common practice > among distribution-shipped kernels. > OK, I understand why this one might worth different consideration.
> >>I disagree with this change because >>it yields a net reduction in understanding what's going >>on during booting. > > No, it does not yields any reduction. Only the strings itself are > changed, not the time they are printed. This is only true if the words themselves have no meaning or utility. They do.
> Besides, nobody is interested that actually an uncompress step is in > progress, that just works. This is not true, a developer working on a new board support package cares whether we're in the decompress step or in the kernel booting step.
New developers unfamiliar with the kernel booting sequence will have to find out where this message is coming from, when things fail. Without a unique string to search for, this becomes quite difficult to find.
In my field, I work with a LOT of developers who are not deeply familiar with the kernel, but still face these bootup messages.
> And, btw if it fails (the gunzip), it prints > an error message anyway iirc.
I'm not sure what happens on gunzip failure, but I see kernel boot failures quite often during board bringup, and it's nice to know if you've passed the decompression phase, etc. The messages you propose are much less instructive for the developer.
However, I will grant that we're not trying to optimize for the developer, but rather should be optimizing for the user. But if we can do something that is suitable to both, I would prefer it. Could we put just a little more wording back in?
-- Tim
============================= Tim Bird Architecture Group Chair, CE Linux Forum Senior Staff Engineer, Sony Electronics ============================= - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
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