Re: [STATUS 2.5] May 1, 2002 (BKL status)

["Guillaume Boissiere" <boissiere@attbi.com>]

> I may not be the leading BKL expert, but I play one on TV :)
> 
> Perhaps one of the kernel-janitor people would like to assist me with 
> this (cc'ing that list).  I'd be willing to keep a web page to list all 
> current BKL uses and keep track of them as they are removed/added 
> Perhaps a set of web pages which resemble the directory structure of the 
> kernel tree would be helpful??
> 
> Here's a good question for kernel-janitor, and anyone else who's 
> interested, what format describing BKL use would most encourage you to 
> go and remove it?  We already have Rick Lindsley's Global spinlock list: 
>   http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/lse/locking_doc-2.4.16 .  The BKL 
> use in there is somewhat dated, but might be a good start.
> 
> I have some awk scripts that I use on each new kernel release to check 
> for new and removed uses of the BKL.  I can adapt these to start 
> checking new BK changesets for BKL changes.

I'm by no means a BKL expert, not even on TV  :-) , but here is a 
suggestion.
What about a listing sorted by how the BKL should be replaced, 
something like this:

BKL --> dma_spin_lock
- alpha/kernel/ptrace.c  Held while doing a ptrace      (John Doe)
- drivers/block/rd.c  Held while doing whatever         (?)
- ...

BKL --> xprt_lock
- ...

BKL --> no lock required
- ...

BKL instances that will NOT be removed
- ...

The advantage is that it should be easier to group together instances
that require the same type of work.
Comments?

-- Guillaume