Re: [PATCH] SubmittingPatches: Increase the line length limit from 80to 100 colums

From: Linus Torvalds
Date: Fri Feb 03 2012 - 16:28:22 EST


On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 2:07 AM, Ingo Molnar <mingo@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> The overwhelming majority of kernel developers have stopped
> using 80 col terminals years ago.

Quite frankly, I think we should still keep it at 80 columns.

The problem is not the 80 columns, it's that damn patch-check script
that warns about people *occasionally* going over 80 columns.

But usually it's bettre to have the *occasional* 80+ column line, than
try to split it up. So we do have lines that are longer than 80
columns, but that's not because 100 columns is ok - it's because 80+
columns is better than the alternative.

So it's a trade-off. Thinking that there is a hard limit is the
problem. And extending that hard limit (and thinking that it's "ok" to
be over 80 columns) is *also* a problem.

So no, 100-char columns are not ok.

Linus
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