Zack's Kernel News
Zack's Kernel News
Chronicler Zack Brown reports on the latest news, views, dilemmas, and developments within the Linux kernel community.
Bogus GCC Warnings Reveal Real Kernel Problem
Linus Torvalds recently took great pains to explain why even though a particular GCC warning resulted in identifying a true problem with the kernel code, the warning itself was nevertheless bogus and insane. In fact, he said, most of the warnings introduced in GCC 5.1 didn't seem so valuable to him.
The one that had caught his attention, though, was a warning against using a switch statement with a Boolean variable. Presumably, the GCC folks thought that the whole point of switch was to operate on several possible values using a simple coding structure, and thus avoid long if/else/if chains. They may have thought that for a Boolean variable, a simple if statement would be the only appropriate way to go.
In the case of this particular bit of kernel code, said Linus, the warning was good because the switch statement in the kernel used a Boolean variable, whereas the case statements did not. He felt that this would be a perfectly legitimate thing for GCC to issue warnings about. But, if the switch and case statements both used a Boolean variable, he said, it would be a perfectly fine use case, and might even be better than the equivalent if/else in some cases:
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
KDE for People Initiative Calls for AI Ban in Plasma
A new community of KDE wants the project to adopt a strict no-AI policy for KDE Plasma.
-
KDE Sets Ambitious Goals for 2026 and Beyond
KDE Connect reveals the goals for the Linux desktop darling, with one of those goals long overdue.
-
It’s Time to Test Fedora 45 Beta
Fedora 45 beta has been released with updated Gnome, KDE Plasma, and kernel.
-
Ubuntu Stonking Stingray Gets Even Rustier
Ubuntu 26.10 has completed its migration to the Rust-based coreutils.
-
AI Fixes Linux Bottlenecks Using “Hideous” Code
A Linux developer used AI to fix bottlenecks that caused problems when building the kernel. The resulting AI-generated code needed a lot of work.
-
Advanced Video Coding Still Under Patent
Brazilian patent BRPI0109962B1 has expired, which means that DivX and Xvid are no longer problematic for Linux, but it doesn’t mean that video is all of a sudden fully unleashed.
-
2,000 Vulnerabilities per Linux Release
Thanks to AI bug hunters, the Linux kernel is seeing record numbers of vulnerabilities, and it's overwhelming developers.
-
Linux Exempt from California’s Age Verification Law
So long as Linux is distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses, the OS is exempt from being required to verify the age of its users in California.
-
Roll Out the Cake: Linux Turns 35
35 years ago, a Finnish student began a humble project that would forever change the course of technology.
-
China Switching from Windows to Linux
China has ordered several government agencies to drop a Chinese-developed version of Windows 10 in favor of either KylinOS or UOS.