From 3454cd5616e963d76d538383250dd4467f013c68 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Utkarsh Verma Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2021 13:53:30 +0530 Subject: [PATCH] Documentation: checkpatch: Add SYMBOLIC_PERMS message Add a new message type SYMBOLIC_PERMS under the 'Permissions' subsection. Octal permission bits are easier to read and understand instead of their symbolic macro names. Suggested-by: Lukas Bulwahn Signed-off-by: Utkarsh Verma Reviewed-by: Lukas Bulwahn Acked-by: Dwaipayan Ray Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20210904082330.14864-1-utkarshverma294@gmail.com [jc: Tweaked wording as suggested by Dwaipayan Ray] Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet --- Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst | 11 +++++++++++ 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+) diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst index 891779c..70480e3 100644 --- a/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/checkpatch.rst @@ -984,6 +984,17 @@ Permissions Permission bits should use 4 digit octal permissions (like 0700 or 0444). Avoid using any other base like decimal. + **SYMBOLIC_PERMS** + Permission bits in the octal form are more readable and easier to + understand than their symbolic counterparts because many command-line + tools use this notation. Experienced kernel developers have been using + these traditional Unix permission bits for decades and so they find it + easier to understand the octal notation than the symbolic macros. + For example, it is harder to read S_IWUSR|S_IRUGO than 0644, which + obscures the developer's intent rather than clarifying it. + + See: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CA+55aFw5v23T-zvDZp-MmD_EYxF8WbafwwB59934FV7g21uMGQ@mail.gmail.com/ + Spacing and Brackets -------------------- -- 2.7.4