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Tejun Heo b3a5d11199 percpu_ref: Update doc to dissuade users from depending on internal RCU grace periods
percpu_ref internally uses sched-RCU to implement the percpu -> atomic
mode switching and the documentation suggested that this could be
depended upon.  This doesn't seem like a good idea.

* percpu_ref uses sched-RCU which has different grace periods regular
  RCU.  Users may combine percpu_ref with regular RCU usage and
  incorrectly believe that regular RCU grace periods are performed by
  percpu_ref.  This can lead to, for example, use-after-free due to
  premature freeing.

* percpu_ref has a grace period when switching from percpu to atomic
  mode.  It doesn't have one between the last put and release.  This
  distinction is subtle and can lead to surprising bugs.

* percpu_ref allows starting in and switching to atomic mode manually
  for debugging and other purposes.  This means that there may not be
  any grace periods from kill to release.

This patch makes it clear that the grace periods are percpu_ref's
internal implementation detail and can't be depended upon by the
users.

Signed-off-by: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
Cc: Kent Overstreet <kent.overstreet@gmail.com>
Cc: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>
2018-03-19 10:09:44 -07:00
arch unify {de,}mangle_poll(), get rid of kernel-side POLL... 2018-02-11 14:37:22 -08:00
block vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
certs License cleanup: add SPDX GPL-2.0 license identifier to files with no license 2017-11-02 11:10:55 +01:00
crypto vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
Documentation KVM changes for 4.16 2018-02-10 13:16:35 -08:00
drivers vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
firmware kbuild: remove all dummy assignments to obj- 2017-11-18 11:46:06 +09:00
fs vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
include percpu_ref: Update doc to dissuade users from depending on internal RCU grace periods 2018-03-19 10:09:44 -07:00
init membarrier: Provide core serializing command, *_SYNC_CORE 2018-02-05 21:35:03 +01:00
ipc vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
kernel vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
lib percpu_ref: Update doc to dissuade users from depending on internal RCU grace periods 2018-03-19 10:09:44 -07:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add MPL-1.1 license 2018-01-06 10:59:44 -07:00
mm mm: Allow to kill tasks doing pcpu_alloc() and waiting for pcpu_balance_workfn() 2018-03-19 09:38:50 -07:00
net vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
samples sample/bpf: fix erspan metadata 2018-02-06 11:32:49 -05:00
scripts Kbuild updates for v4.16 (2nd) 2018-02-09 19:32:41 -08:00
security vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
sound vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
tools Merge git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/davem/net 2018-02-09 15:34:18 -08:00
usr initramfs: fix initramfs rebuilds w/ compression after disabling 2017-11-03 07:39:19 -07:00
virt vfs: do bulk POLL* -> EPOLL* replacement 2018-02-11 14:34:03 -08:00
.cocciconfig
.get_maintainer.ignore
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set git diff driver for C source code files 2016-10-07 18:46:30 -07:00
.gitignore scripts/package: snap-pkg target 2017-12-13 00:00:18 +09:00
.mailmap mailmap: update Mark Yao's email address 2018-01-04 16:45:09 -08:00
COPYING
CREDITS MAINTAINERS: update TPM driver infrastructure changes 2017-11-09 17:58:40 -08:00
Kbuild Kbuild updates for v4.15 2017-11-17 17:45:29 -08:00
Kconfig License cleanup: add SPDX GPL-2.0 license identifier to files with no license 2017-11-02 11:10:55 +01:00
MAINTAINERS percpu: add Dennis Zhou as a percpu co-maintainer 2018-02-12 13:08:53 -08:00
Makefile Linux 4.16-rc1 2018-02-11 15:04:29 -08:00
README README: add a new README file, pointing to the Documentation/ 2016-10-24 08:12:35 -02:00

Linux kernel
============

This file was moved to Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst

Please notice that there are several guides for kernel developers and users.
These guides can be rendered in a number of formats, like HTML and PDF.

In order to build the documentation, use ``make htmldocs`` or
``make pdfdocs``.

There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory,
several of them using the Restructured Text markup notation.
See Documentation/00-INDEX for a list of what is contained in each file.

Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the
requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about
the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.