Subject: Re: [PATCH] Stop scaring users with "treason uncloaked!"

From: Rick Jones <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:58:56 -0800

David Schwartz wrote:
>>Most people won't actually think their printer is on fire. But most
>>people WILL think there is serious cause for concern when they see this
>>for the first time in dmesg. Many will search the net for explanations
>>and come away confused and not entirely reassured. And at least one
>>clueless guy will call the police because he still thinks he's under
>>attack.
> 
> 
> Messages about something or other being "illegal" occur about 345 times in
> the Linux kernel source code. Are we going to start patching those too?
> 
> We have "illegal norm", "illegal input", "illegal call", "illegal type",
> "illegal bits", "illegal root port number", "illegal host number", "illegal
> DMA data", "illegal dimensions" (who do you call about that one?), "illegal
> phase", "illegal page number", "illegal seek", and on, and on, and on.
> 
> I suspect that if I submitted a patch to change all of those to "invalid",
> I'd be considered a kook. (Well, more of a kook, anyway.)

All issues of your kookiness aside :) I suspect that the continuing 
spread of "linux" among the masses will mean a need for greater care in 
message wording.  Whether that means that "illegal <foo>" needs to be 
changed I cannot say, but if it does it shouldn't come as a surprise.

rick jones