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Date:      Fri, 10 May 2013 19:51:43 +0930
From:      smckay@internode.on.net
To:        "Eitan Adler" <eadler@freebsd.org>, "Juli Mallett" <jmallett@FreeBSD.org>
Cc:        svn-src-head@freebsd.org, svn-src-all@freebsd.org, src-committers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: svn commit: r250431 - head/usr.bin/xargs
Message-ID:  <65172.1368181303@internode.on.net>

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On Fri 10/05/13 17:50 , Juli Mallett jmallett@FreeBSD.org sent:=20
> Eitan,=20
>=20=20
> Are other changes coming to xargs for which these style changes make=20
> sense?  If not, I'd say that style changes which only adjust vertical=20
> whitespace, especially those which mostly add vertical whitespace at=20
> the start of functions with no local variables (which is one of the=20
> most archaic and unusual things style(9) requires), are probably the=20
> most gratuitous and silly style changes to make.  That doesn't even=20
> rise to being a style change, it's just a whitespace change.  And I=20
> really do believe that vertical whitespace changes are much, much=20
> sillier than horizontal whitespace changes.=20
=20
Juli, it seems we're bothered by the same thing here: that at least=20
some of the vertical white space requirements of style(9) are=20
silly and (rightly) widely ignored.  So I think we should change=20
the guide to fix this rather than damaging a lot of perfectly=20
readable code.=20
=20
I'd like to emphasise that I'm not even slightly cranky at Eitan for=20
his commit since we committers are presumed to have agreed to follow=20
style(9) and he's just changing code to match the official style.  My=20
complaint is that the official style isn't useful in this small regard=20
and should be changed.=20
=20
> (Watch for standalone commits from people who used to be=20
> very active developers who have recently hit the threshold for getting=20
> commit bit reaper E-Mails.  They're fairly instructive in the art of=20
> making occasional insignificant changes for the sake of making=20
> changes.)=20
=20
Well, I used to be a low activity developer and have transitioned to=20
being a very low activity developer, so I know the reaper and the=20
temptation of a quick fix to get it off your back.  However it's better=20
to let the reaper pester you than to make a low quality commit.  After=20
all, if you haven't anything new and interesting to add, there is always=20
that convenient list of bugs that could be fixed...=20
=20
Cheers,=20
=20
Stephen.=20



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