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.
A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings
Andy Shevchenko, who is not a butterfly, happened to remark one day on the Linux Kernel Mailing List: "would it make sense to enable -Werror for default warning level, let's say W=0, at some point?" And this ended up producing great storms of change across the world.
The -Werror option is a command-line option for the GNU C Compiler (GCC). When compiling, GCC will detect many errors in your code, report them to you, and abort the attempt to compile your code. Perhaps you haven't quite made a real error, but your code is still not a good usage of the C language. In that case, GCC produces a warning instead and continues chugging away to build your executable. However, maybe you are so enthusiastic about proper C usage that you want GCC to treat those bad usages as if they were errors. The -Werror option tells GCC to do that.
Masahiro Yamada pointed out to Andy that "Every GCC release adds new warning options." And that "Enabling -Werror by default means the kernel build is suddenly broken with new compilers."
[...]
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
-
Is Linus Torvalds Vibe Coding?
The creator of Linux has added AI into his process for Linux kernel development, and it's more than just for debugging.
-
openKylin 3.0 Released with Expanded AI Integration
The latest release features a pre-installed AI agent to help perform tasks.
-
DigitalOcean Ends Open Source Credits Program
In a change that has surprised many open source developers, DigitalOcean has decided to sunset its Open Source Credits Program.
-
Office 365 Available for Testing on Linux via Bottles
Linux users can now test the official Office 365, thanks to Mirko Brombin's work on Bottles.
-
Dutch Government Turns to Open Source for Digital Sovereignty
Following in the footsteps of other European countries, the Netherlands is looking to increase its sovereign digital infrastructure with open source software.
-
Linux May Soon Work on Snapdragon X2-Based PCs
If you're thinking about buying a Snapdragon X2-based desktop or laptop, Linux may soon be an option.
-
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.