From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1756962AbYFDAnY (ORCPT ); Tue, 3 Jun 2008 20:43:24 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S1752334AbYFDAnR (ORCPT ); Tue, 3 Jun 2008 20:43:17 -0400 Received: from mx2.suse.de ([195.135.220.15]:37528 "EHLO mx2.suse.de" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752413AbYFDAnP (ORCPT ); Tue, 3 Jun 2008 20:43:15 -0400 Date: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 02:43:11 +0200 From: Nick Piggin To: Vegard Nossum Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, mm-commits@vger.kernel.org, andi@firstfloor.org, apw@shadowen.org, jens.axboe@oracle.com, mingo@elte.hu, pbadari@us.ibm.com, shaggy@austin.ibm.com, tglx@linutronix.de, zach.brown@oracle.com Subject: Re: + x86-implement-pte_special.patch added to -mm tree Message-ID: <20080604004311.GA30863@wotan.suse.de> References: <200806022356.m52NuRTj006330@imap1.linux-foundation.org> <19f34abd0806030853p747c01bft7b773b21e1361bcb@mail.gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <19f34abd0806030853p747c01bft7b773b21e1361bcb@mail.gmail.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.9i Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Tue, Jun 03, 2008 at 05:53:22PM +0200, Vegard Nossum wrote: > On 6/3/08, akpm@linux-foundation.org wrote: > > > > The patch titled > > x86: implement pte_special > > has been added to the -mm tree. Its filename is > > x86-implement-pte_special.patch > > ... > > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > Subject: x86: implement pte_special > > From: Nick Piggin > > > > Implement the pte_special bit for x86. This is required to support > > lockless get_user_pages, because we need to know whether or not we can > > refcount a particular page given only its pte (and no vma). > > Wait... what the heck is a "special" page? Isn't that a terrible name > for _anything_? Or is there a tradition to the name? It sounds like it > should be named "novma" or "autonomous" or something instead. > Something that carries at least a little more information than > "special". Where can I find the documentation for this bit? It's the logical opposite of a "normal" page. > Has this been discussed on LKML? Is the name a result of consensus or whim? It has been posted many times.