Re: [Ksummit-discuss] [MAINTAINERS SUMMIT] Documentation issues

[Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>]

On Sun, 25 Jun 2017 22:56:07 +0200 (CEST)
Jiri Kosina <jkosina@suse.cz> wrote:

> Unfortunately option (3) has also been applied to some of the files:
> 
> 	$ ll Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
> 	ls: cannot access 'Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt': No such file or directory
> 
> I wasn't sure whether this was intentional or not. But if not, I'll 
> happily send a patch that introduces a symlink.

Worries about moving well-known files are why I delayed some of this stuff
a bit so I could bring it up at conferences and the kernel summit.  It
only proceeded after I didn't get any real pushback in those settings.

In general, we move files around in the kernel tree all the time.  We
don't normally leave symlinks behind; indeed, we never do.  Instead, we
figure out where the file moved to and get on with life.  Are
documentation files somehow different, needing different rules in this
regard?  I wouldn't mind some clarity on that point.

My hope (cue inspirational music here) is that, someday, it will be
possible to type "ls Documentation" and get back a reasonably sized
listing that is easy to explore.  Let's just say that's not the situation
at the moment.  Getting there will certainly involve moving files around;
replacing them with symlinks or pointer files would, to a real extent,
defeat the purpose.

jon