+ docs-core-api-memory-allocation-clarify-when-to-use-kzalloc_obj-and-kzalloc.patch added to mm-new branch

+ docs-core-api-memory-allocation-clarify-when-to-use-kzalloc_obj-and-kzalloc.patch added to mm-new branch

[Andrew Morton]

The patch titled
     Subject: docs/core-api: memory-allocation: clarify when to use kzalloc_obj and kzalloc
has been added to the -mm mm-new branch.  Its filename is
     docs-core-api-memory-allocation-clarify-when-to-use-kzalloc_obj-and-kzalloc.patch

This patch will shortly appear at
     https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/akpm/25-new.git/tree/patches/docs-core-api-memory-allocation-clarify-when-to-use-kzalloc_obj-and-kzalloc.patch

This patch will later appear in the mm-new branch at
    git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/akpm/mm

Note, mm-new is a provisional staging ground for work-in-progress
patches, and acceptance into mm-new is a notification for others take
notice and to finish up reviews.  Please do not hesitate to respond to
review feedback and post updated versions to replace or incrementally
fixup patches in mm-new.

The mm-new branch of mm.git is not included in linux-next

If a few days of testing in mm-new is successful, the patch will me moved
into mm.git's mm-unstable branch, which is included in linux-next

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   a) Consider who else should be cc'ed
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*** Remember to use Documentation/process/submit-checklist.rst when testing your code ***

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------------------------------------------------------
From: "Mike Rapoport (Microsoft)" <rppt@kernel.org>
Subject: docs/core-api: memory-allocation: clarify when to use kzalloc_obj and kzalloc
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2026 09:36:54 +0300

Make it abundantly clear that in the most cases objects should be
allocated with kzalloc_obj() and buffers should be allocated with
kzalloc().

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/20260907063654.2248617-1-rppt@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Mike Rapoport (Microsoft) <rppt@kernel.org>
Acked-by: Vlastimil Babka (SUSE) <vbabka@kernel.org>
Acked-by: Lorenzo Stoakes (ARM) <ljs@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: David Hildenbrand (Arm) <david@kernel.org>
Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Cc: Liam R. Howlett <liam@infradead.org>
Cc: Michal Hocko <mhocko@suse.com>
Cc: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@infradead.org>
Cc: SeongJae Park <sj@kernel.org>
Cc: Suren Baghdasaryan <surenb@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
---

 Documentation/core-api/memory-allocation.rst |    4 +++-
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

--- a/Documentation/core-api/memory-allocation.rst~docs-core-api-memory-allocation-clarify-when-to-use-kzalloc_obj-and-kzalloc
+++ a/Documentation/core-api/memory-allocation.rst
@@ -23,12 +23,14 @@ answer, although very likely you should
 
   kzalloc_obj(<VAR_OR_TYPE>);
 
-or
+if you need memory for an object and
 
 ::
 
   kzalloc(<size>, GFP_KERNEL);
 
+if you need memory for a buffer.
+
 Of course there are cases when other allocation APIs and different GFP
 flags must be used.
 
_

Patches currently in -mm which might be from rppt@kernel.org are

set_memory-add-number-of-pages-parameter-to-set_direct_map-apis.patch
mm-vmalloc-set-areas-page_order-after-allocation-succeeds.patch
mm-vmalloc-constify-vm-parameter-of-get_vm_area_page_order.patch
mm-vmalloc-make-set_area_direct_map-huge_vmap-friendly.patch
mm-execmem-use-vm_flush_reset_perms-for-rox-cache-allocations.patch
revert-arch-introduce-set_direct_map_valid_noflush.patch
docs-core-api-memory-allocation-add-kalloc_obj-and-clarify-kmalloc.patch
maintainers-add-memory-related-docs-in-core-mm-to-mm-misc-section.patch
mm-execmem-free-rox-cache-chunks-only-when-they-span-an-entire-vm-area.patch
mm-execmem-handle-potential-allocation-errors-in-the-maple-tree.patch
mm-execmem-make-sure-rox-cache-always-contains-multiples-of-pmd_size.patch
mm-vmalloc-add-define_free-for-vfree.patch
mm-execmem-use-cleanup-infrastructure-in-rox-cache-functions.patch
docs-core-api-memory-allocation-clarify-when-to-use-kzalloc_obj-and-kzalloc.patch
sh-remove-config_numa-and-realted-configuration-options.patch
sh-mm-remove-numac.patch
sh-mm-drop-allocate_pgdat.patch
sh-remove-setup_bootmem_node-and-plat_mem_setup.patch
sh-drop-dead-code-guarded-by-ifdef-config_numa.patch
sh-drop-include-asm-mmzoneh.patch
init-kconfig-drop-arch_want_numa_variable_locality.patch
sh-init-remove-call-the-memblock_set_node.patch
sh-remove-sparsemem-related-entries-from-kconfig.patch
sh-drop-include-asm-sparsememh.patch