Re: [PATCH v1] docs: new text on bisecting which also covers bug validation

From: Jonathan Corbet
Date: Mon Feb 19 2024 - 17:07:31 EST


Thorsten Leemhuis <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> Replace the existing brief explanation on bisecting regressions with a
> text describing the whole process from beginning to end -- while also
> describing how to validate if a problem is still present in mainline.
> This "two in one" approach is possible, as checking whenever a bug is in
> mainline is one of the first steps before performing a bisection anyway
> and thus described. Due to this approach the text also works quite
> nicely in conjunction with
> Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst, as it covers all typical
> cases where users will need to build a kernel in exactly the same order.

I have scanned over this; don't really have a time to do a detailed
reading at this point. My overall impression is: it's useful
information, but I think we're going to overwhelm people. I worry that
we're replacing a one-page file on how to do a bisect with a 1,900-line
beast. I suspect there are whole classes of readers who want the new
stuff, but there are others who would be better served by something much
more terse.

I'll repeat a question I've asked before: should we create a separate
"tutorials" book for this kind of material? I honestly think that the
readers for this kind of documentation will be a different crowd, and
everybody might be better off if we put the tutorial material in one
place where they can find it easily.

Regardless, thanks for doing this,

jon