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Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001 15:32:32 -0800
From: "David C. Hansen" <haveblue@us.ibm.com>
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To: Alan Cox <alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk>
CC: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] remove BKL from drivers' release functions
In-Reply-To: <E169EFX-0006TA-00@the-village.bc.nu>
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Alan Cox wrote:

>>drivers' release functions.  The release functions are already 
>>serialized in the VFS code by an atomic_t which guarantees that each 
>>
>The release function was only partially serialized - what stops a release
>and an open racing each other ? That in several cases was why the lock
>was there. 
>
Nothing, because the BKL is not held for all opens anymore.  In most of 
the cases that we addressed, the BKL was in release _only_, not in open 
at all.  There were quite a few drivers where we added a spinlock, or 
used atomic operations to keep open from racing with release.  


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