Re: [PATCH 1/2] clone: Support passing tls argument via C rather than pt_regs magic

Re: [PATCH 1/2] clone: Support passing tls argument via C rather than pt_regs magic

[Vineet Gupta]

+CC Arnd, Al, linux-arch

On Monday 11 May 2015 08:17 PM, Josh Triplett wrote:
> On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 02:31:39PM +0000, Vineet Gupta wrote:
>> On Tuesday 21 April 2015 11:17 PM, Josh Triplett wrote:
>>> clone with CLONE_SETTLS accepts an argument to set the thread-local
>>> storage area for the new thread.  sys_clone declares an int argument
>>> tls_val in the appropriate point in the argument list (based on the
>>> various CLONE_BACKWARDS variants), but doesn't actually use or pass
>>> along that argument.  Instead, sys_clone calls do_fork, which calls
>>> copy_process, which calls the arch-specific copy_thread, and copy_thread
>>> pulls the corresponding syscall argument out of the pt_regs captured at
>>> kernel entry (knowing what argument of clone that architecture passes
>>> tls in).
>>>
>>> Apart from being awful and inscrutable, that also only works because
>>> only one code path into copy_thread can pass the CLONE_SETTLS flag, and
>>> that code path comes from sys_clone with its architecture-specific
>>> argument-passing order.  This prevents introducing a new version of the
>>> clone system call without propagating the same architecture-specific
>>> position of the tls argument.
>>>
>>> However, there's no reason to pull the argument out of pt_regs when
>>> sys_clone could just pass it down via C function call arguments.
>>>
>>> Introduce a new CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS for architectures to opt
>>> into, and a new copy_thread_tls that accepts the tls parameter as an
>>> additional unsigned long (syscall-argument-sized) argument.
>>> Change sys_clone's tls argument to an unsigned long (which does
>>> not change the ABI), and pass that down to copy_thread_tls.
>>>
>>> Architectures that don't opt into copy_thread_tls will continue to
>>> ignore the C argument to sys_clone in favor of the pt_regs captured at
>>> kernel entry, and thus will be unable to introduce new versions of the
>>> clone syscall.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Josh Triplett <josh-iaAMLnmF4UmaiuxdJuQwMA@public.gmane.org>
>>> Signed-off-by: Thiago Macieira <thiago.macieira-ral2JQCrhuEAvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
>>> Acked-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto-DgEjT+Ai2ygdnm+yROfE0A@public.gmane.org>
>>> ---
>>>  arch/Kconfig             |  7 ++++++
>>>  include/linux/sched.h    | 14 ++++++++++++
>>>  include/linux/syscalls.h |  6 +++---
>>>  kernel/fork.c            | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
>>>  4 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
>>>
>>> diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
>>> index 05d7a8a..4834a58 100644
>>> --- a/arch/Kconfig
>>> +++ b/arch/Kconfig
>>> @@ -484,6 +484,13 @@ config HAVE_IRQ_EXIT_ON_IRQ_STACK
>>>  	  This spares a stack switch and improves cache usage on softirq
>>>  	  processing.
>>>  
>>> +config HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS
>>> +	bool
>>> +	help
>>> +	  Architecture provides copy_thread_tls to accept tls argument via
>>> +	  normal C parameter passing, rather than extracting the syscall
>>> +	  argument from pt_regs.
>>> +
>>>  #
>>>  # ABI hall of shame
>>>  #
>>> diff --git a/include/linux/sched.h b/include/linux/sched.h
>>> index a419b65..2cc88c6 100644
>>> --- a/include/linux/sched.h
>>> +++ b/include/linux/sched.h
>>> @@ -2480,8 +2480,22 @@ extern struct mm_struct *mm_access(struct task_struct *task, unsigned int mode);
>>>  /* Remove the current tasks stale references to the old mm_struct */
>>>  extern void mm_release(struct task_struct *, struct mm_struct *);
>>>  
>>> +#ifdef CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS
>>> +extern int copy_thread_tls(unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long,
>>> +			struct task_struct *, unsigned long);
>>> +#else
>>>  extern int copy_thread(unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long,
>>>  			struct task_struct *);
>>> +
>>> +/* Architectures that haven't opted into copy_thread_tls get the tls argument
>>> + * via pt_regs, so ignore the tls argument passed via C. */
>>> +static inline int copy_thread_tls(
>>> +		unsigned long clone_flags, unsigned long sp, unsigned long arg,
>>> +		struct task_struct *p, unsigned long tls)
>>> +{
>>> +	return copy_thread(clone_flags, sp, arg, p);
>>> +}
>>> +#endif
>>
>> Is this detour really needed. Can we not update copy_thread() of all arches in one
>> go and add the tls arg, w/o using it.
>>
>> And then arch maintainers can micro-optimize their code to use that arg vs.
>> pt_regs->rxx version at their own leisure. The only downside I see with that is
>> bigger churn (touches all arches), and a interim unused arg warning ?
> 
> In addition to the cleanup and simplification, the purpose of this patch
> is specifically to make sure that any architecture opting into
> HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS does *not* care how tls is passed in, and in
> particular doesn't depend on it arriving in a specific syscall argument.

Sorry for sounding dense, but as I see here, in the end even for non opting
arches, copy_thread_tls() calling convention expects tls arg passed to it from
sys_clone call stack, but simply drops it. So that arg is always available, has to
be, otherwise even the pt_regs approach won't get to it.

The opt in approach simply avoids touching all arches in one go, to pass @tls
unconditionally to copy_thread().

I think latter has simpler unified calling convention and avoids proliferating
another Kconfig option across arches, which actually any sane arch will opt into
in the end - there's no reason not to.

Note that passing the arg doesn't mean arch needs to be converted right away in
terms of how it references the orig syscall @tls param. It can do it as maintainer
deems fit and in fact the build warning will pester them to do that sooner than later.

> I have patches in flight (for CLONE_FD and clone4) that depend on that
> assumption, by introducing additional syscalls (with tls passed
> differently) that call down through these same code paths.

But that is different from copy_thread() vs, copy_thread_tls() aspect of the
story. Perhaps if u could point me to your in works git branch or some such I'd be
able to comprehend this better.

Thx,
-Vineet

Re: [PATCH 1/2] clone: Support passing tls argument via C rather than pt_regs magic

[Vineet Gupta]

+CC Arnd, Al, linux-arch

On Monday 11 May 2015 08:17 PM, Josh Triplett wrote:
> On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 02:31:39PM +0000, Vineet Gupta wrote:
>> On Tuesday 21 April 2015 11:17 PM, Josh Triplett wrote:
>>> clone with CLONE_SETTLS accepts an argument to set the thread-local
>>> storage area for the new thread.  sys_clone declares an int argument
>>> tls_val in the appropriate point in the argument list (based on the
>>> various CLONE_BACKWARDS variants), but doesn't actually use or pass
>>> along that argument.  Instead, sys_clone calls do_fork, which calls
>>> copy_process, which calls the arch-specific copy_thread, and copy_thread
>>> pulls the corresponding syscall argument out of the pt_regs captured at
>>> kernel entry (knowing what argument of clone that architecture passes
>>> tls in).
>>>
>>> Apart from being awful and inscrutable, that also only works because
>>> only one code path into copy_thread can pass the CLONE_SETTLS flag, and
>>> that code path comes from sys_clone with its architecture-specific
>>> argument-passing order.  This prevents introducing a new version of the
>>> clone system call without propagating the same architecture-specific
>>> position of the tls argument.
>>>
>>> However, there's no reason to pull the argument out of pt_regs when
>>> sys_clone could just pass it down via C function call arguments.
>>>
>>> Introduce a new CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS for architectures to opt
>>> into, and a new copy_thread_tls that accepts the tls parameter as an
>>> additional unsigned long (syscall-argument-sized) argument.
>>> Change sys_clone's tls argument to an unsigned long (which does
>>> not change the ABI), and pass that down to copy_thread_tls.
>>>
>>> Architectures that don't opt into copy_thread_tls will continue to
>>> ignore the C argument to sys_clone in favor of the pt_regs captured at
>>> kernel entry, and thus will be unable to introduce new versions of the
>>> clone syscall.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Josh Triplett <josh@joshtriplett.org>
>>> Signed-off-by: Thiago Macieira <thiago.macieira@intel.com>
>>> Acked-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto@kernel.org>
>>> ---
>>>  arch/Kconfig             |  7 ++++++
>>>  include/linux/sched.h    | 14 ++++++++++++
>>>  include/linux/syscalls.h |  6 +++---
>>>  kernel/fork.c            | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
>>>  4 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
>>>
>>> diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
>>> index 05d7a8a..4834a58 100644
>>> --- a/arch/Kconfig
>>> +++ b/arch/Kconfig
>>> @@ -484,6 +484,13 @@ config HAVE_IRQ_EXIT_ON_IRQ_STACK
>>>  	  This spares a stack switch and improves cache usage on softirq
>>>  	  processing.
>>>  
>>> +config HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS
>>> +	bool
>>> +	help
>>> +	  Architecture provides copy_thread_tls to accept tls argument via
>>> +	  normal C parameter passing, rather than extracting the syscall
>>> +	  argument from pt_regs.
>>> +
>>>  #
>>>  # ABI hall of shame
>>>  #
>>> diff --git a/include/linux/sched.h b/include/linux/sched.h
>>> index a419b65..2cc88c6 100644
>>> --- a/include/linux/sched.h
>>> +++ b/include/linux/sched.h
>>> @@ -2480,8 +2480,22 @@ extern struct mm_struct *mm_access(struct task_struct *task, unsigned int mode);
>>>  /* Remove the current tasks stale references to the old mm_struct */
>>>  extern void mm_release(struct task_struct *, struct mm_struct *);
>>>  
>>> +#ifdef CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS
>>> +extern int copy_thread_tls(unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long,
>>> +			struct task_struct *, unsigned long);
>>> +#else
>>>  extern int copy_thread(unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long,
>>>  			struct task_struct *);
>>> +
>>> +/* Architectures that haven't opted into copy_thread_tls get the tls argument
>>> + * via pt_regs, so ignore the tls argument passed via C. */
>>> +static inline int copy_thread_tls(
>>> +		unsigned long clone_flags, unsigned long sp, unsigned long arg,
>>> +		struct task_struct *p, unsigned long tls)
>>> +{
>>> +	return copy_thread(clone_flags, sp, arg, p);
>>> +}
>>> +#endif
>>
>> Is this detour really needed. Can we not update copy_thread() of all arches in one
>> go and add the tls arg, w/o using it.
>>
>> And then arch maintainers can micro-optimize their code to use that arg vs.
>> pt_regs->rxx version at their own leisure. The only downside I see with that is
>> bigger churn (touches all arches), and a interim unused arg warning ?
> 
> In addition to the cleanup and simplification, the purpose of this patch
> is specifically to make sure that any architecture opting into
> HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS does *not* care how tls is passed in, and in
> particular doesn't depend on it arriving in a specific syscall argument.

Sorry for sounding dense, but as I see here, in the end even for non opting
arches, copy_thread_tls() calling convention expects tls arg passed to it from
sys_clone call stack, but simply drops it. So that arg is always available, has to
be, otherwise even the pt_regs approach won't get to it.

The opt in approach simply avoids touching all arches in one go, to pass @tls
unconditionally to copy_thread().

I think latter has simpler unified calling convention and avoids proliferating
another Kconfig option across arches, which actually any sane arch will opt into
in the end - there's no reason not to.

Note that passing the arg doesn't mean arch needs to be converted right away in
terms of how it references the orig syscall @tls param. It can do it as maintainer
deems fit and in fact the build warning will pester them to do that sooner than later.

> I have patches in flight (for CLONE_FD and clone4) that depend on that
> assumption, by introducing additional syscalls (with tls passed
> differently) that call down through these same code paths.

But that is different from copy_thread() vs, copy_thread_tls() aspect of the
story. Perhaps if u could point me to your in works git branch or some such I'd be
able to comprehend this better.

Thx,
-Vineet

Re: [PATCH 1/2] clone: Support passing tls argument via C rather than pt_regs magic

[Josh Triplett]

On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 09:56:58AM +0530, Vineet Gupta wrote:
> On Monday 11 May 2015 08:17 PM, Josh Triplett wrote:
> > On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 02:31:39PM +0000, Vineet Gupta wrote:
> >> On Tuesday 21 April 2015 11:17 PM, Josh Triplett wrote:
> >>> clone with CLONE_SETTLS accepts an argument to set the thread-local
> >>> storage area for the new thread.  sys_clone declares an int argument
> >>> tls_val in the appropriate point in the argument list (based on the
> >>> various CLONE_BACKWARDS variants), but doesn't actually use or pass
> >>> along that argument.  Instead, sys_clone calls do_fork, which calls
> >>> copy_process, which calls the arch-specific copy_thread, and copy_thread
> >>> pulls the corresponding syscall argument out of the pt_regs captured at
> >>> kernel entry (knowing what argument of clone that architecture passes
> >>> tls in).
> >>>
> >>> Apart from being awful and inscrutable, that also only works because
> >>> only one code path into copy_thread can pass the CLONE_SETTLS flag, and
> >>> that code path comes from sys_clone with its architecture-specific
> >>> argument-passing order.  This prevents introducing a new version of the
> >>> clone system call without propagating the same architecture-specific
> >>> position of the tls argument.
> >>>
> >>> However, there's no reason to pull the argument out of pt_regs when
> >>> sys_clone could just pass it down via C function call arguments.
> >>>
> >>> Introduce a new CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS for architectures to opt
> >>> into, and a new copy_thread_tls that accepts the tls parameter as an
> >>> additional unsigned long (syscall-argument-sized) argument.
> >>> Change sys_clone's tls argument to an unsigned long (which does
> >>> not change the ABI), and pass that down to copy_thread_tls.
> >>>
> >>> Architectures that don't opt into copy_thread_tls will continue to
> >>> ignore the C argument to sys_clone in favor of the pt_regs captured at
> >>> kernel entry, and thus will be unable to introduce new versions of the
> >>> clone syscall.
> >>>
> >>> Signed-off-by: Josh Triplett <josh-iaAMLnmF4UmaiuxdJuQwMA@public.gmane.org>
> >>> Signed-off-by: Thiago Macieira <thiago.macieira-ral2JQCrhuEAvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
> >>> Acked-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto-DgEjT+Ai2ygdnm+yROfE0A@public.gmane.org>
> >>> ---
> >>>  arch/Kconfig             |  7 ++++++
> >>>  include/linux/sched.h    | 14 ++++++++++++
> >>>  include/linux/syscalls.h |  6 +++---
> >>>  kernel/fork.c            | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
> >>>  4 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
> >>>
> >>> diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
> >>> index 05d7a8a..4834a58 100644
> >>> --- a/arch/Kconfig
> >>> +++ b/arch/Kconfig
> >>> @@ -484,6 +484,13 @@ config HAVE_IRQ_EXIT_ON_IRQ_STACK
> >>>  	  This spares a stack switch and improves cache usage on softirq
> >>>  	  processing.
> >>>  
> >>> +config HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS
> >>> +	bool
> >>> +	help
> >>> +	  Architecture provides copy_thread_tls to accept tls argument via
> >>> +	  normal C parameter passing, rather than extracting the syscall
> >>> +	  argument from pt_regs.
> >>> +
> >>>  #
> >>>  # ABI hall of shame
> >>>  #
> >>> diff --git a/include/linux/sched.h b/include/linux/sched.h
> >>> index a419b65..2cc88c6 100644
> >>> --- a/include/linux/sched.h
> >>> +++ b/include/linux/sched.h
> >>> @@ -2480,8 +2480,22 @@ extern struct mm_struct *mm_access(struct task_struct *task, unsigned int mode);
> >>>  /* Remove the current tasks stale references to the old mm_struct */
> >>>  extern void mm_release(struct task_struct *, struct mm_struct *);
> >>>  
> >>> +#ifdef CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS
> >>> +extern int copy_thread_tls(unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long,
> >>> +			struct task_struct *, unsigned long);
> >>> +#else
> >>>  extern int copy_thread(unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long,
> >>>  			struct task_struct *);
> >>> +
> >>> +/* Architectures that haven't opted into copy_thread_tls get the tls argument
> >>> + * via pt_regs, so ignore the tls argument passed via C. */
> >>> +static inline int copy_thread_tls(
> >>> +		unsigned long clone_flags, unsigned long sp, unsigned long arg,
> >>> +		struct task_struct *p, unsigned long tls)
> >>> +{
> >>> +	return copy_thread(clone_flags, sp, arg, p);
> >>> +}
> >>> +#endif
> >>
> >> Is this detour really needed. Can we not update copy_thread() of all arches in one
> >> go and add the tls arg, w/o using it.
> >>
> >> And then arch maintainers can micro-optimize their code to use that arg vs.
> >> pt_regs->rxx version at their own leisure. The only downside I see with that is
> >> bigger churn (touches all arches), and a interim unused arg warning ?
> > 
> > In addition to the cleanup and simplification, the purpose of this patch
> > is specifically to make sure that any architecture opting into
> > HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS does *not* care how tls is passed in, and in
> > particular doesn't depend on it arriving in a specific syscall argument.
> 
> Sorry for sounding dense, but as I see here, in the end even for non opting
> arches, copy_thread_tls() calling convention expects tls arg passed to it from
> sys_clone call stack, but simply drops it. So that arg is always available, has to
> be, otherwise even the pt_regs approach won't get to it.

That just avoids the need for preprocessor conditionals in the middle of
copy_process, and allows copy_process to start accepting the tls
argument from sys_clone.  The version passed to sys_clone via C is not
actually used unless the architecture opts into HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS.

> The opt in approach simply avoids touching all arches in one go, to pass @tls
> unconditionally to copy_thread().

That's not the only change every arch would need; they'd need to
actually pass it correctly from their arch-specific syscall entry point
into sys_clone, which not all architectures do.  (x86, for instance, did
not.)

> I think latter has simpler unified calling convention and avoids proliferating
> another Kconfig option across arches, which actually any sane arch will opt into
> in the end - there's no reason not to.

All architectures should, eventually, but just as many architectures
don't wire up new syscalls right away, not all architectures will opt in
at the same time.  And you're already suggesting that architectures
won't actually convert right away:

> Note that passing the arg doesn't mean arch needs to be converted right away in
> terms of how it references the orig syscall @tls param. It can do it as maintainer
> deems fit and in fact the build warning will pester them to do that sooner than later.

I don't like to introduce new warnings.  And without the new Kconfig
symbol, there's nothing to depend on to ensure that the target
architecture has fixed this.  CONFIG_CLONE4 needs to depend on
CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS, for instance, because it'll be broken
otherwise.

> > I have patches in flight (for CLONE_FD and clone4) that depend on that
> > assumption, by introducing additional syscalls (with tls passed
> > differently) that call down through these same code paths.
> 
> But that is different from copy_thread() vs, copy_thread_tls() aspect of the
> story. Perhaps if u could point me to your in works git branch or some such I'd be
> able to comprehend this better.

They're on LKML in the clone4 thread; see
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel.api/9171 .

- Josh Triplett

Re: [PATCH 1/2] clone: Support passing tls argument via C rather than pt_regs magic

[Josh Triplett]

On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 09:56:58AM +0530, Vineet Gupta wrote:
> On Monday 11 May 2015 08:17 PM, Josh Triplett wrote:
> > On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 02:31:39PM +0000, Vineet Gupta wrote:
> >> On Tuesday 21 April 2015 11:17 PM, Josh Triplett wrote:
> >>> clone with CLONE_SETTLS accepts an argument to set the thread-local
> >>> storage area for the new thread.  sys_clone declares an int argument
> >>> tls_val in the appropriate point in the argument list (based on the
> >>> various CLONE_BACKWARDS variants), but doesn't actually use or pass
> >>> along that argument.  Instead, sys_clone calls do_fork, which calls
> >>> copy_process, which calls the arch-specific copy_thread, and copy_thread
> >>> pulls the corresponding syscall argument out of the pt_regs captured at
> >>> kernel entry (knowing what argument of clone that architecture passes
> >>> tls in).
> >>>
> >>> Apart from being awful and inscrutable, that also only works because
> >>> only one code path into copy_thread can pass the CLONE_SETTLS flag, and
> >>> that code path comes from sys_clone with its architecture-specific
> >>> argument-passing order.  This prevents introducing a new version of the
> >>> clone system call without propagating the same architecture-specific
> >>> position of the tls argument.
> >>>
> >>> However, there's no reason to pull the argument out of pt_regs when
> >>> sys_clone could just pass it down via C function call arguments.
> >>>
> >>> Introduce a new CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS for architectures to opt
> >>> into, and a new copy_thread_tls that accepts the tls parameter as an
> >>> additional unsigned long (syscall-argument-sized) argument.
> >>> Change sys_clone's tls argument to an unsigned long (which does
> >>> not change the ABI), and pass that down to copy_thread_tls.
> >>>
> >>> Architectures that don't opt into copy_thread_tls will continue to
> >>> ignore the C argument to sys_clone in favor of the pt_regs captured at
> >>> kernel entry, and thus will be unable to introduce new versions of the
> >>> clone syscall.
> >>>
> >>> Signed-off-by: Josh Triplett <josh@joshtriplett.org>
> >>> Signed-off-by: Thiago Macieira <thiago.macieira@intel.com>
> >>> Acked-by: Andy Lutomirski <luto@kernel.org>
> >>> ---
> >>>  arch/Kconfig             |  7 ++++++
> >>>  include/linux/sched.h    | 14 ++++++++++++
> >>>  include/linux/syscalls.h |  6 +++---
> >>>  kernel/fork.c            | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
> >>>  4 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
> >>>
> >>> diff --git a/arch/Kconfig b/arch/Kconfig
> >>> index 05d7a8a..4834a58 100644
> >>> --- a/arch/Kconfig
> >>> +++ b/arch/Kconfig
> >>> @@ -484,6 +484,13 @@ config HAVE_IRQ_EXIT_ON_IRQ_STACK
> >>>  	  This spares a stack switch and improves cache usage on softirq
> >>>  	  processing.
> >>>  
> >>> +config HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS
> >>> +	bool
> >>> +	help
> >>> +	  Architecture provides copy_thread_tls to accept tls argument via
> >>> +	  normal C parameter passing, rather than extracting the syscall
> >>> +	  argument from pt_regs.
> >>> +
> >>>  #
> >>>  # ABI hall of shame
> >>>  #
> >>> diff --git a/include/linux/sched.h b/include/linux/sched.h
> >>> index a419b65..2cc88c6 100644
> >>> --- a/include/linux/sched.h
> >>> +++ b/include/linux/sched.h
> >>> @@ -2480,8 +2480,22 @@ extern struct mm_struct *mm_access(struct task_struct *task, unsigned int mode);
> >>>  /* Remove the current tasks stale references to the old mm_struct */
> >>>  extern void mm_release(struct task_struct *, struct mm_struct *);
> >>>  
> >>> +#ifdef CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS
> >>> +extern int copy_thread_tls(unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long,
> >>> +			struct task_struct *, unsigned long);
> >>> +#else
> >>>  extern int copy_thread(unsigned long, unsigned long, unsigned long,
> >>>  			struct task_struct *);
> >>> +
> >>> +/* Architectures that haven't opted into copy_thread_tls get the tls argument
> >>> + * via pt_regs, so ignore the tls argument passed via C. */
> >>> +static inline int copy_thread_tls(
> >>> +		unsigned long clone_flags, unsigned long sp, unsigned long arg,
> >>> +		struct task_struct *p, unsigned long tls)
> >>> +{
> >>> +	return copy_thread(clone_flags, sp, arg, p);
> >>> +}
> >>> +#endif
> >>
> >> Is this detour really needed. Can we not update copy_thread() of all arches in one
> >> go and add the tls arg, w/o using it.
> >>
> >> And then arch maintainers can micro-optimize their code to use that arg vs.
> >> pt_regs->rxx version at their own leisure. The only downside I see with that is
> >> bigger churn (touches all arches), and a interim unused arg warning ?
> > 
> > In addition to the cleanup and simplification, the purpose of this patch
> > is specifically to make sure that any architecture opting into
> > HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS does *not* care how tls is passed in, and in
> > particular doesn't depend on it arriving in a specific syscall argument.
> 
> Sorry for sounding dense, but as I see here, in the end even for non opting
> arches, copy_thread_tls() calling convention expects tls arg passed to it from
> sys_clone call stack, but simply drops it. So that arg is always available, has to
> be, otherwise even the pt_regs approach won't get to it.

That just avoids the need for preprocessor conditionals in the middle of
copy_process, and allows copy_process to start accepting the tls
argument from sys_clone.  The version passed to sys_clone via C is not
actually used unless the architecture opts into HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS.

> The opt in approach simply avoids touching all arches in one go, to pass @tls
> unconditionally to copy_thread().

That's not the only change every arch would need; they'd need to
actually pass it correctly from their arch-specific syscall entry point
into sys_clone, which not all architectures do.  (x86, for instance, did
not.)

> I think latter has simpler unified calling convention and avoids proliferating
> another Kconfig option across arches, which actually any sane arch will opt into
> in the end - there's no reason not to.

All architectures should, eventually, but just as many architectures
don't wire up new syscalls right away, not all architectures will opt in
at the same time.  And you're already suggesting that architectures
won't actually convert right away:

> Note that passing the arg doesn't mean arch needs to be converted right away in
> terms of how it references the orig syscall @tls param. It can do it as maintainer
> deems fit and in fact the build warning will pester them to do that sooner than later.

I don't like to introduce new warnings.  And without the new Kconfig
symbol, there's nothing to depend on to ensure that the target
architecture has fixed this.  CONFIG_CLONE4 needs to depend on
CONFIG_HAVE_COPY_THREAD_TLS, for instance, because it'll be broken
otherwise.

> > I have patches in flight (for CLONE_FD and clone4) that depend on that
> > assumption, by introducing additional syscalls (with tls passed
> > differently) that call down through these same code paths.
> 
> But that is different from copy_thread() vs, copy_thread_tls() aspect of the
> story. Perhaps if u could point me to your in works git branch or some such I'd be
> able to comprehend this better.

They're on LKML in the clone4 thread; see
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel.api/9171 .

- Josh Triplett