During the Linux 7.1 merge window, Linus Torvalds rejected two pull requests with characteristically blunt commentary. The first addressed a performance regression in the audit subsystem on high core count CPUs caused by excessive spinlock contention from repeated path_get/path_put calls. Torvalds called the proposed fix a 'hack' that exposed broken audit code assumptions to non-audit users, particularly around how pwd and root paths are treated differently. The submitter agreed and dropped the patches. The second rejection involved a new BOOTPARAM_RCU_STALL_PANIC Kconfig option for triggering kernel panics on RCU stalls. Torvalds forcefully rejected it, reiterating his long-standing position that Kconfig files should not be cluttered with options that can be handled via sysctl or boot parameters, as they represent the most visible interface for new kernel developers.
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