OpenSSL Communities
Mon 20 Oct 2025 5:06PM

Feedback Request: OpenSSL Source Code Reformat

AK Aditya Koranga Public Seen by 39

Hello Small Businesses,

At the recent OpenSSL Conference, Bob Beck presented the upcoming OpenSSL Source Code Reformat initiative — you can review his slides here (attached to this post).

In summary, as part of our ongoing modernization efforts, the OpenSSL team is planning to reformat the entire source code using clang-format, adopting the WebKit style.
This will make the codebase more consistent, automate formatting checks in CI, and simplify contribution workflows.

However, this also means that nearly all source files will be reformatted, and existing patch sets or forks will no longer apply cleanly.
The change will not alter functionality, but it will touch nearly every line of code.

As your representative to the OpenSSL Foundation Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), I want to gather feedback from small organizations and small/medium businesses that rely on OpenSSL

We’d like your input on the following:

  1. Overall Support
    - Do you support this reformatting initiative?
    - Is it a welcome modernization, or do you see it as a potential disruption?

  2. Impact on Your Work
    - How much work will this create for your team?
    - Do you maintain custom patches, forks, or internal builds that would need to be adjusted?

  3. Importance of Code Formatting
    - How important is formatting consistency to your organization?
    - Does it affect your ability to contribute, audit, or maintain OpenSSL?

  4. Opinion on WebKit Style
    - Are you comfortable with the chosen WebKit format, or would you prefer another standard?

  5. Support Needed
    - What would make this transition easier for your business?

  6. Any Other Feedback
    Do you have additional concerns, ideas, or support requests related to this change or similar modernization efforts?

You don't necessarily need to answer all the questions but your feedbacks will directly inform how we represent small business perspectives at the TAC and to the overall OpenSSL community.

Thank you for helping make OpenSSL better — for everyone, large and small.

Regards,

Aditya Koranga

AK

Aditya Koranga Mon 20 Oct 2025 5:15PM

I know many of you are technical experts but for those who want to know more about WebKit style then please visit this link.

Thanks

RB

Randall Becker Mon 20 Oct 2025 6:29PM

My only objection to WebKit is the inconsistent function declaration. I can find no justification for why they chose the format

int main()
{
...
}

when other blocks have the { on the same line. However, I can live with it. The effort is worth is as it maintains an expectation of readability. I worry about doing this prior to 3.7/4.0 as inter-version merges will impact multiple active releases.

JL

Jan Lübbe Tue 21 Oct 2025 9:02AM

@Randall Becker This difference between function and other braces is relatively common. See e.g. https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/coding-style.html#placing-braces-and-spaces

RB

Randall Becker Tue 21 Oct 2025 12:50PM

@Jan Lübbe I know. It does not mean I have to like it even if I accept it.

JB

James Bourne Mon 20 Oct 2025 6:44PM

Code formatting is important. Does this proposal seek to implicitly address code safety? Or is it purely style? Both should be addressed eventually. The proposed style change would have no impact on us. Please see: https://abougouffa.github.io/awesome-coding-standards/

GH

Gareth Hearn Tue 21 Oct 2025 6:59AM

  1. Yes, support—code is read more than written.

  2. Have custom patches, but only for development-type testing, so not big disruption.

Regards

Gareth

AK

Aditya Koranga Tue 21 Oct 2025 3:12PM

Thanks for the feedback. Highly appreciated

JL

Jan Lübbe Tue 21 Oct 2025 9:11AM

  1. Yes, I support it. The sooner this is done, the more we can benefit from it.

  2. Existing PRs will need to be reformatted. Guidance on how to do that automatically (perhaps via git filter-repo/filter-branch) would be appreciated.

  3. We use automatic code formatting for all projects in Rust/Python and many in C.

  4. I'm more familiar with the Linux style, but they are similar enough and with good automation, there's not much to learn.

AK

Aditya Koranga Tue 21 Oct 2025 3:13PM

@Jan Lübbe Thanks for engaging with the thread and providing the feedback. I will take these points in the next TAC meeting.