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 <lukas.bulwahn@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Utkarsh Verma <utkarshverma294@gmail.com>
Reviewed-by: Lukas Bulwahn <lukas.bulwahn@gmail.com>
Acked-by: Dwaipayan Ray <dwaipayanray1@gmail.com>
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 <corbet@lwn.net>
This commit is contained in:
Utkarsh Verma 2021-09-04 13:53:30 +05:30 committed by Jonathan Corbet
parent 29bd0cace2
commit 3454cd5616
1 changed files with 11 additions and 0 deletions

View File

@ -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
--------------------