Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org designates 209.132.180.67 as permitted sender) client-ip=209.132.180.67;
Subject: Re: [patch] mm, thp: fix defrag setting if newline is not used
To:     David Rientjes <rientjes@google.com>
Cc:     Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>,
        Mel Gorman <mgorman@techsingularity.net>,
        linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-mm@kvack.org
References: <alpine.DEB.2.21.2001141757490.108121@chino.kir.corp.google.com>
 <20200116191609.3972fd5301cf364a27381923@linux-foundation.org>
 <025511aa-4721-2edb-d658-78d6368a9101@suse.cz>
 <alpine.DEB.2.21.2001170136280.20618@chino.kir.corp.google.com>
From:   Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@suse.cz>
Autocrypt: addr=vbabka@suse.cz; prefer-encrypt=mutual; keydata=
 mQINBFZdmxYBEADsw/SiUSjB0dM+vSh95UkgcHjzEVBlby/Fg+g42O7LAEkCYXi/vvq31JTB
 KxRWDHX0R2tgpFDXHnzZcQywawu8eSq0LxzxFNYMvtB7sV1pxYwej2qx9B75qW2plBs+7+YB
 87tMFA+u+L4Z5xAzIimfLD5EKC56kJ1CsXlM8S/LHcmdD9Ctkn3trYDNnat0eoAcfPIP2OZ+
 9oe9IF/R28zmh0ifLXyJQQz5ofdj4bPf8ecEW0rhcqHfTD8k4yK0xxt3xW+6Exqp9n9bydiy
 tcSAw/TahjW6yrA+6JhSBv1v2tIm+itQc073zjSX8OFL51qQVzRFr7H2UQG33lw2QrvHRXqD
 Ot7ViKam7v0Ho9wEWiQOOZlHItOOXFphWb2yq3nzrKe45oWoSgkxKb97MVsQ+q2SYjJRBBH4
 8qKhphADYxkIP6yut/eaj9ImvRUZZRi0DTc8xfnvHGTjKbJzC2xpFcY0DQbZzuwsIZ8OPJCc
 LM4S7mT25NE5kUTG/TKQCk922vRdGVMoLA7dIQrgXnRXtyT61sg8PG4wcfOnuWf8577aXP1x
 6mzw3/jh3F+oSBHb/GcLC7mvWreJifUL2gEdssGfXhGWBo6zLS3qhgtwjay0Jl+kza1lo+Cv
 BB2T79D4WGdDuVa4eOrQ02TxqGN7G0Biz5ZLRSFzQSQwLn8fbwARAQABtCBWbGFzdGltaWwg
 QmFia2EgPHZiYWJrYUBzdXNlLmN6PokCVAQTAQoAPgIbAwULCQgHAwUVCgkICwUWAgMBAAIe
 AQIXgBYhBKlA1DSZLC6OmRA9UCJPp+fMgqZkBQJcbbyGBQkH8VTqAAoJECJPp+fMgqZkpGoP
 /1jhVihakxw1d67kFhPgjWrbzaeAYOJu7Oi79D8BL8Vr5dmNPygbpGpJaCHACWp+10KXj9yz
 fWABs01KMHnZsAIUytVsQv35DMMDzgwVmnoEIRBhisMYOQlH2bBn/dqBjtnhs7zTL4xtqEcF
 1hoUFEByMOey7gm79utTk09hQE/Zo2x0Ikk98sSIKBETDCl4mkRVRlxPFl4O/w8dSaE4eczH
 LrKezaFiZOv6S1MUKVKzHInonrCqCNbXAHIeZa3JcXCYj1wWAjOt9R3NqcWsBGjFbkgoKMGD
 usiGabetmQjXNlVzyOYdAdrbpVRNVnaL91sB2j8LRD74snKsV0Wzwt90YHxDQ5z3M75YoIdl
 byTKu3BUuqZxkQ/emEuxZ7aRJ1Zw7cKo/IVqjWaQ1SSBDbZ8FAUPpHJxLdGxPRN8Pfw8blKY
 8mvLJKoF6i9T6+EmlyzxqzOFhcc4X5ig5uQoOjTIq6zhLO+nqVZvUDd2Kz9LMOCYb516cwS/
 Enpi0TcZ5ZobtLqEaL4rupjcJG418HFQ1qxC95u5FfNki+YTmu6ZLXy+1/9BDsPuZBOKYpUm
 3HWSnCS8J5Ny4SSwfYPH/JrtberWTcCP/8BHmoSpS/3oL3RxrZRRVnPHFzQC6L1oKvIuyXYF
 rkybPXYbmNHN+jTD3X8nRqo+4Qhmu6SHi3VquQENBFsZNQwBCACuowprHNSHhPBKxaBX7qOv
 KAGCmAVhK0eleElKy0sCkFghTenu1sA9AV4okL84qZ9gzaEoVkgbIbDgRbKY2MGvgKxXm+kY
 n8tmCejKoeyVcn9Xs0K5aUZiDz4Ll9VPTiXdf8YcjDgeP6/l4kHb4uSW4Aa9ds0xgt0gP1Xb
 AMwBlK19YvTDZV5u3YVoGkZhspfQqLLtBKSt3FuxTCU7hxCInQd3FHGJT/IIrvm07oDO2Y8J
 DXWHGJ9cK49bBGmK9B4ajsbe5GxtSKFccu8BciNluF+BqbrIiM0upJq5Xqj4y+Xjrpwqm4/M
 ScBsV0Po7qdeqv0pEFIXKj7IgO/d4W2bABEBAAGJA3IEGAEKACYWIQSpQNQ0mSwujpkQPVAi
 T6fnzIKmZAUCWxk1DAIbAgUJA8JnAAFACRAiT6fnzIKmZMB0IAQZAQoAHRYhBKZ2GgCcqNxn
 k0Sx9r6Fd25170XjBQJbGTUMAAoJEL6Fd25170XjDBUH/2jQ7a8g+FC2qBYxU/aCAVAVY0NE
 YuABL4LJ5+iWwmqUh0V9+lU88Cv4/G8fWwU+hBykSXhZXNQ5QJxyR7KWGy7LiPi7Cvovu+1c
 9Z9HIDNd4u7bxGKMpn19U12ATUBHAlvphzluVvXsJ23ES/F1c59d7IrgOnxqIcXxr9dcaJ2K
 k9VP3TfrjP3g98OKtSsyH0xMu0MCeyewf1piXyukFRRMKIErfThhmNnLiDbaVy6biCLx408L
 Mo4cCvEvqGKgRwyckVyo3JuhqreFeIKBOE1iHvf3x4LU8cIHdjhDP9Wf6ws1XNqIvve7oV+w
 B56YWoalm1rq00yUbs2RoGcXmtX1JQ//aR/paSuLGLIb3ecPB88rvEXPsizrhYUzbe1TTkKc
 4a4XwW4wdc6pRPVFMdd5idQOKdeBk7NdCZXNzoieFntyPpAq+DveK01xcBoXQ2UktIFIsXey
 uSNdLd5m5lf7/3f0BtaY//f9grm363NUb9KBsTSnv6Vx7Co0DWaxgC3MFSUhxzBzkJNty+2d
 10jvtwOWzUN+74uXGRYSq5WefQWqqQNnx+IDb4h81NmpIY/X0PqZrapNockj3WHvpbeVFAJ0
 9MRzYP3x8e5OuEuJfkNnAbwRGkDy98nXW6fKeemREjr8DWfXLKFWroJzkbAVmeIL0pjXATxr
 +tj5JC0uvMrrXefUhXTo0SNoTsuO/OsAKOcVsV/RHHTwCDR2e3W8mOlA3QbYXsscgjghbuLh
 J3oTRrOQa8tUXWqcd5A0+QPo5aaMHIK0UAthZsry5EmCY3BrbXUJlt+23E93hXQvfcsmfi0N
 rNh81eknLLWRYvMOsrbIqEHdZBT4FHHiGjnck6EYx/8F5BAZSodRVEAgXyC8IQJ+UVa02QM5
 D2VL8zRXZ6+wARKjgSrW+duohn535rG/ypd0ctLoXS6dDrFokwTQ2xrJiLbHp9G+noNTHSan
 ExaRzyLbvmblh3AAznb68cWmM3WVkceWACUalsoTLKF1sGrrIBj5updkKkzbKOq5gcC5AQ0E
 Wxk1NQEIAJ9B+lKxYlnKL5IehF1XJfknqsjuiRzj5vnvVrtFcPlSFL12VVFVUC2tT0A1Iuo9
 NAoZXEeuoPf1dLDyHErrWnDyn3SmDgb83eK5YS/K363RLEMOQKWcawPJGGVTIRZgUSgGusKL
 NuZqE5TCqQls0x/OPljufs4gk7E1GQEgE6M90Xbp0w/r0HB49BqjUzwByut7H2wAdiNAbJWZ
 F5GNUS2/2IbgOhOychHdqYpWTqyLgRpf+atqkmpIJwFRVhQUfwztuybgJLGJ6vmh/LyNMRr8
 J++SqkpOFMwJA81kpjuGR7moSrUIGTbDGFfjxmskQV/W/c25Xc6KaCwXah3OJ40AEQEAAYkC
 PAQYAQoAJhYhBKlA1DSZLC6OmRA9UCJPp+fMgqZkBQJbGTU1AhsMBQkDwmcAAAoJECJPp+fM
 gqZkPN4P/Ra4NbETHRj5/fM1fjtngt4dKeX/6McUPDIRuc58B6FuCQxtk7sX3ELs+1+w3eSV
 rHI5cOFRSdgw/iKwwBix8D4Qq0cnympZ622KJL2wpTPRLlNaFLoe5PkoORAjVxLGplvQIlhg
 miljQ3R63ty3+MZfkSVsYITlVkYlHaSwP2t8g7yTVa+q8ZAx0NT9uGWc/1Sg8j/uoPGrctml
 hFNGBTYyPq6mGW9jqaQ8en3ZmmJyw3CHwxZ5FZQ5qc55xgshKiy8jEtxh+dgB9d8zE/S/UGI
 E99N/q+kEKSgSMQMJ/CYPHQJVTi4YHh1yq/qTkHRX+ortrF5VEeDJDv+SljNStIxUdroPD29
 2ijoaMFTAU+uBtE14UP5F+LWdmRdEGS1Ah1NwooL27uAFllTDQxDhg/+LJ/TqB8ZuidOIy1B
 xVKRSg3I2m+DUTVqBy7Lixo73hnW69kSjtqCeamY/NSu6LNP+b0wAOKhwz9hBEwEHLp05+mj
 5ZFJyfGsOiNUcMoO/17FO4EBxSDP3FDLllpuzlFD7SXkfJaMWYmXIlO0jLzdfwfcnDzBbPwO
 hBM8hvtsyq8lq8vJOxv6XD6xcTtj5Az8t2JjdUX6SF9hxJpwhBU0wrCoGDkWp4Bbv6jnF7zP
 Nzftr4l8RuJoywDIiJpdaNpSlXKpj/K6KrnyAI/joYc7
Message-ID: <a3c269a7-ff41-ee7c-9041-ee06e50c5a10@suse.cz>
Date:   Fri, 17 Jan 2020 11:12:24 +0100
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101
 Thunderbird/68.3.1
MIME-Version: 1.0
In-Reply-To: <alpine.DEB.2.21.2001170136280.20618@chino.kir.corp.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Language: en-US
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org
Precedence: bulk

On 1/17/20 10:43 AM, David Rientjes wrote:
> On Fri, 17 Jan 2020, Vlastimil Babka wrote:
> 
>>>> If thp defrag setting "defer" is used and a newline is *not* used when
>>>> writing to the sysfs file, this is interpreted as the "defer+madvise"
>>>> option.
>>>>
>>>> This is because we do prefix matching and if five characters are written
>>>> without a newline, the current code ends up comparing to the first five
>>>> bytes of the "defer+madvise" option and using that instead.
>>>>
>>>> Find the length of what the user is writing and use that to guide our
>>>> decision on which string comparison to do.
>>>
>>> Gee, why is this code so complicated?  Can't we just do
>>>
>>> 	if (sysfs_streq(buf, "always")) {
>>> 		...
>>> 	} else if sysfs_streq(buf, "defer+madvise")) {
>>> 		...
>>> 	}
>>> 	...
>>
>> Yeah, if we knew this existed :)
>>
>> We would lose the prefix matching but hopefully nobody will complain.
>>
> 
> I tested Vlastimil's patch and it works as intended so I was about to 
> modify the changelog and send his patch and ask for a sign-off line 
> because I think I agree the *partial* prefix matching has ~0.1% chance of 
> breaking userspace and that 0.1% chance outweighs my desire to make the 
> code consistent for all options.

If prefix matching worked with "echo alw > /sys..." then I would expect
some script out there relies on it, but since it only works with "echo
-n alw > /..." then perhaps there's no such script :)

> But if userspace were broken by this, then at least it was already broken 
> for "defer" depending on newline vs no newline.  (What we do know is that 
> nobody has used "defer" for the past couple years without a newline :).
> 
> If nobody objects, I'll test and send Andrew's version with the changelog 
> because I think we all agree the risk of breakage here is very minimal and 
> actually fixes the case for defer.  

Agreed.