Linus Torvalds and the Supposedly “Garbage Code”
Linus Torvalds criticized a RISC-V Linux kernel contribution from a Google engineer as “garbage code.” The discussion focuses on the helper function make_u32_from_two_u16() versus Linus’s proposed explicit code. Let’s discuss the importance of using proper type casting, bit manipulation, and creating a safer, reusable macro or function for clarity and bug reduction. Recently, Linus Torvalds publicly dismissed a RISC-V code contribution to the Linux kernel made by a Google engineer as “garbage code”: https://lkml.org/lkml/2025/8/9/76 First, I think Linus should be more respectful of other people. In addition, let’s focus on the make_u32_from_two_u16() helper. My understanding is that this is a C preprocessor macro (as the Linux Kernel is mainly written in C). Let’s…
