Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 12:34:12 -0700 From: David Greenman <davidg@Root.COM> To: Jason Thorpe <thorpej@nas.nasa.gov> Cc: Robert Nordier <rnordier@iafrica.com>, coredump@nervosa.com, proff@suburbia.net, chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Indentation styles Message-ID: <199605291934.MAA02209@Root.COM> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 29 May 1996 11:37:03 PDT." <199605291837.LAA10835@lestat.nas.nasa.gov>
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>On Wed, 29 May 1996 20:22:41 +0200 (SAT) > Robert Nordier <rnordier@iafrica.com> wrote: > >[ Keep me on the CC; I don't read "chat" ... --thorpej ] > > > Companies have coding style standards largely because they pay people to > > put up with them. _Maybe_ a free OS project shouldn't have the same > > because it doesn't necessarily do to treat volunteers like the hired help. > >I don't look at is as a matter of "putting up with them". I, personally, >am _very_ glad that code at least _looks_ consistent. That way, you only >have to learn how to decipher one "different" style, rather than N. And, >if the mandated style just happens to be neat and tidy (such as KNF), >then you have some added polish as well. > > > I agree standards are a Good Thing, but possibly FreeBSD should rather > > promote stylistic diversity in the virtual workplace. :) Mostly it should > > depend on how everyone feels.... > >See above; "stylistic diversity", in my opinion, is an obstacle to a >well-designed system. For what it's worth, I agree with both of you. :-) The general rule we've used in FreeBSD is: KNF strongly (not strictly) enforced in machine-independant portions of the kernel, and "encouraged" in the machine-dependant portion. We generally don't want to piss off our contributors, but at the same time we want to maintain as much consistency as possible. This isn't a perfect solution, but I believe it's a good compromise. -DG David Greenman Core-team/Principal Architect, The FreeBSD Project
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