Linus Torvalds Rejects ‘Garbage’ RISC-V Code, Delays It for Linux 6.17

Linus Torvalds delivered a sharp rebuke to the initial batch of RISC-V patches proposed for inclusion in Linux 6.17, citing both their untimely submission and the presence of what he called “garbage” changes unrelated to RISC-V that altered the kernel’s general header files.

Particularly irksome to Torvalds was the introduction of a new helper macro, make_u32_from_two_u16(), which he argued made the code less transparent and ultimately worsened its clarity. He noted that a simple expression such as (a << 16) + b immediately conveys its purpose, whereas the use of such a “helper” obscures word order and introduces ambiguity.

Torvalds stressed that changes of this nature have no place in common header files—and certainly should not be introduced at the closing stage of the merge window. He warned that he would no longer accept late-stage inclusion requests and would not tolerate “garbage” outside the RISC-V architecture tree.

According to him, the authors will have the opportunity to resubmit their work only in version 6.18, at the very start of the merge window, and only after removing the contentious and superfluous edits.