Linux kernel mirror (for testing) git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git
kernel os linux

mm: clarify __GFP_NOFAIL deprecation status

__GFP_NOFAIL is documented as a deprecated flag since commit
478352e789f5 ("mm: add comment about deprecation of __GFP_NOFAIL").

This has discouraged people from using it but in some cases an opencoded
endless loop around allocator has been used instead. So the allocator
is not aware of the de facto __GFP_NOFAIL allocation because this
information was not communicated properly.

Let's make clear that if the allocation context really cannot afford
failure because there is no good failure policy then using __GFP_NOFAIL
is preferable to opencoding the loop outside of the allocator.

[akpm@linux-foundation.org: coding-style fixes]
Signed-off-by: Michal Hocko <mhocko@suse.cz>
Acked-by: David Rientjes <rientjes@google.com>
Cc: Johannes Weiner <hannes@cmpxchg.org>
Cc: Dave Chinner <david@fromorbit.com>
Cc: "Theodore Ts'o" <tytso@mit.edu>
Cc: Mel Gorman <mgorman@suse.de>
Cc: Tetsuo Handa <penguin-kernel@I-love.SAKURA.ne.jp>
Cc: "David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>
Cc: Vipul Pandya <vipul@chelsio.com>
Cc: Jan Kara <jack@suse.cz>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>

authored by

Michal Hocko and committed by
Linus Torvalds
64775719 ac173824

+4 -2
+4 -2
include/linux/gfp.h
··· 57 57 * _might_ fail. This depends upon the particular VM implementation. 58 58 * 59 59 * __GFP_NOFAIL: The VM implementation _must_ retry infinitely: the caller 60 - * cannot handle allocation failures. This modifier is deprecated and no new 61 - * users should be added. 60 + * cannot handle allocation failures. New users should be evaluated carefully 61 + * (and the flag should be used only when there is no reasonable failure policy) 62 + * but it is definitely preferable to use the flag rather than opencode endless 63 + * loop around allocator. 62 64 * 63 65 * __GFP_NORETRY: The VM implementation must not retry indefinitely. 64 66 *