Torvalds calls out ‘random turd files’ in Linux

‘This thing needs to *die*’

Linus Torvalds has shared his disgust at the code slowing down the latest Linux kernel release.

Torvalds was scathing in his latest comments about a Linux 6.15-rc1 pull request - first spotted by Phoronix - which merged a big set of open source graphics driver updates.

He specifically called out the new ‘hdrtest’ testing code for the Intel Xe kernel driver, which is being built as part of full kernel builds.

‘HDR’ in this case refers not to high dynamic range but for verifying the integrity and self-containment of DRM header (HDR, get it?) files.

Oh, and DRM also doesn’t refer to digital rights management; it’s shorthand for direct rendering manager.

In his comments on the pull, Torvalds called it ‘disgusting "hdrtest" crap’ that:

“(a) slows down the build because it's done for a regular allmodconfig build rather than be some simple thing that you guys can run as needed

“(b) also leaves random 'hdrtest' turds around in the include directories.”

He reached five “turds” in his comment, in case you were wondering about his annoyance level.

Torvalds added, “[The pull] should never have made it to me in this broken form.

“Why the heck is this testing being done as a regular part of the build?”

Adding a last punch, he said:

“This thing needs to *die*.

“If you want to do that hdrtest thing, do it as part of your *own* checks. Don't make everybody else see that disgusting thing and have those turds in their trees.

“I'll just disable it by marking it BROKEN for now. You guys can figure out what you want to do, but no, forcing others to see those things is not the answer.”