Re: [PATCH] mm: PageLRU can be non-atomic bit operation

Hugh Dickins
2007-04-23T11:17:19Z

On Mon, 23 Apr 2007, Hisashi Hifumi wrote:
>
> PageLRU flag operation is protected by zone->lru_lock, so
> SetPageLRU/ClearPageLRU
> can be replaced to __SetPageLRU/__ClearPageLRU non-atomic bit operation.

No. The PG_lru flag bit is just one bit amongst many others:
what of concurrent operations changing other bits in that same
unsigned long e.g. trying to lock the page by setting PG_locked?
There are some places where such micro-optimizations can be made
(typically while first allocating the page); but in general, no.

Hugh