Re: [PATCH] Introduce down_nowait()

[Christoph Hellwig <hch@infradead.org>]

On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 11:29:03PM -0700, Andrew Morton wrote:
> Actually, I don't thing down_nowait() is a terribly good name, because it
> doesn't tell the reader anything about what to expect from the return
> value.  Does a non-zero return mean that down_wait() acquired the lock,
> or does it not?  Something like down_try() would be better, because if
> it returns 1 we can say "ah, the trying succeeded".

Actually, it does, and the kerneldoc comment explains it in every detail
for those who need to read it up.  Then again semaphores and on their
way out, and I really hate the kind of churn this thing introduces at
this moment.  Please let all the semaphore to completion/mutex/other
construct change settle for a while, and with a little chance this gem
will just go away entirely.