Re: [PATCH 0/2] x86/fred: enable FRED by default

[H. Peter Anvin]

On March 23, 2026 10:08:42 PM PDT, Sohil Mehta <sohil.mehta@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>On 3/23/2026 8:52 PM, H. Peter Anvin wrote:
>>>> Nit: Would it be better to compare with "off" rather than not on?
>>>
>>> +1 :)
>>>
>> 
>> It would change the meaning of something like "fred=0" though.
>> 
>
>I don't believe we have ever supported fred=0 or fred=1, did we?
>
>Also, I am not sure about letting userspace be creative with command
>line parameters :) For example, fred=yes and fred=enable will both pass
>the same check and cause FRED to be disabled.

Unfortunately right now we *are* being creative: anytime but the exact string "on" disables FRED. This is a general problem. In the kernel; overall I feel promoting foo= syntax for booleans, which was not the original style, was a mistake, but here we are.

Anyway, I don't have a strong preference and I think we can leave that policy decision to the maintainers.