Re: [GIT PULL] hardening updates for v6.3-rc1

[Linus Torvalds]

On Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 11:38 AM Kees Cook <keescook@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Please pull these hardening updates for v6.3-rc1.

So I've pulled this, but while looking at it, I see commit
5c0f220e1b2d ("Merge branch 'for-linus/hardening' into
for-next/hardening").

And that one-liner shortlog part is literally the whole commit message.

I've said this before, and apparently I need to say this again: if you
cannot be bothered to explain *WHY* a merge exists, then that merge is
buggy garbage by definition.

This really should be a rule that every single developer should take
to heart. I'm not just putting random words together in a random
order.

I repeat: if you cannot explain a merge, then JUST DON'T DO IT.

It's really that simple. There is absolutely *NEVER* an excuse for
merges without explaining why those merges exist.

In this case, I really think that merge should not have existed at
all, and the lack of explanation is because there *IS* no explanation
for it.

But if there was a reason for it, then just state it, dammit, and make
that merge commit look sensible.

Because right now it just looks entirely pointless. And I literally
*detest* pointless merges. They only make the history look worse and
harder to read.

                     Linus