On Tue, 5 Dec 2017 16:55:37 +0100 Petr Mladek <pmla...@suse.com> wrote:
> I would have agreed with this argument few weeks ago but I do not get > it any longer. If there are tools depending on the message format > and people enable the extended format, the tools might stop working. > > You might argue that these people are shooting into their legs. > But other people might argue that kernel changed ABI and broke > userspace tools. Note that these tools do not have any chance > to force kernel using the old format, they are consumers. > > It might be especially annoying if these tools are part of some > complex infrastructure that is used to access the boot logs > and admins get blind. Then it might be hard for them to debug > the problem, especially if they got this feature as part of > a bigger system update. > > Am I too paranoid? Steven? Linus? Remember, an ABI is only broken if a tool breaks. If it proves to break userspace, then it can be reverted. But if there is no tool that depends on it, it's fine to change. That said, I haven't had a chance to fully read this thread. Mostly because of the Turkey holiday which put me behind in other areas, and also I currently traveling, and will be taking PTO for the rest of the week. -- Steve