Re: [PATCH] can: softing: remove redundant NULL check

From: Oliver Hartkopp
Date: Mon Feb 19 2024 - 16:08:06 EST


Hi Simon,

On 2024-02-19 18:00, Simon Horman wrote:
On Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 08:47:43PM +0100, Oliver Hartkopp wrote:
Hi Simon,

I have a general question on the "Fixes:" tag in this patch:

On 16.02.24 18:27, Simon Horman wrote:
On Sun, Feb 11, 2024 at 07:05:35AM -0800, Daniil Dulov wrote:
In this case dev cannot be NULL, so remove redundant check.

Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with SVACE.

Fixes: 03fd3cf5a179 ("can: add driver for Softing card")

IMHO this is simply an improvement which is done by all patches applied to
the kernel but it does not really "fix" anything from a functional
standpoint.

Shouldn't we either invent a new tag or better leave it out to not confuse
the stable maintainers?

Hi Oliver,

sorry for missing that in my review.

Yes, I agree that this is probably not a fix, for which my
rule of thumb is something that addresses a user-visible problem.
So I agree it should not have a fixes tag.

I would suggest that we can just change the text to something that
has no tag. Something like:

...

Introduced by 03fd3cf5a179 ("can: add driver for Softing card")


Yes, but the "Introduced-by:" tag would be an optional tag for people that like blaming others, right?

IMHO we should think about completely removing the "Fixes:" tag, when it has no user-visible effect that might be a candidate for stable kernels. It is common improvement work. And it has been so for years.

Best regards,
Oliver