- Linus Torvalds added hidden tabs to Kconfig to challenge parsers that can’t handle them.
- Tabs were intentionally added to the common Kconfig file for page sizes to expose faulty parsers.
- Torvalds believes parsers unable to handle tabs shouldn’t be parsing kernel Kconfig files, aiming to force fixes.
The Robustness Principle may seem like little more than a suggestion, but it is the foundation on which many successful things are based.
To boil it down to meme-level old-school Torvaldsry: Assume everyone else is a f–king idiot who can barely do what they’re supposed to and expect to parse their files / behaviour / trash accordingly.
If you do not do this, you are, without doubt, one of those f–king idiots everyone else is having to deal with. If you do do this, it does not guarantee that you are not a f–king idiot. Awareness is key.
Examples where this works: Web browser quirks mode; Driving a car; Measure twice, cut once. This latter one is special because it reveals that often, the f–king idiot you’re trying to deal with is yourself.
Assume everyone else is worse.
Fun corollary: In altering his behaviour towards
f–king idiotspeople who should know better, Linus has learned to apply the robustness principle to interpersonal communication.using a rly bad word but pretending not to is kinda weird
I don’t understand this either. There’s no fucking algorithm overlord here right? No fucking tiktok, youtube bullshit required.
If you want to say fuck, fucking say fuck.
On another note. Thx for introducing me to the robustness principle ♥️
Maybe I want to say it without saying it. There’s no rule against doing that, but people somehow think there is - or that there ought to be.
Most of the time I don’t swear, so it makes me uncomfortable to use the word. There have been and undoubtedly will be exceptions. When the mood takes me. When the word, unfettered, feels right. Today was not that day.
Funny how the partial omission offends some people more than the original word does. Adapt your parsers.
That’s a good f*****g point
Sometimes it works well as a stylistic choice. It’s not pretending not to use a bad word, but rather drawing attention to the fact that you’re deliberately being a little bit naughty with a wink to the reader. It’s like the absurdity of what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps.
mingegurgle
Eugh.
Bravo.
congratulate ben croshaw, i stole it from zero punctuation
It’s a principle for brittleness. First you get implementation-defined behaviour, then bug-compatible software.