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To: Andrew Morton <akpm@zip.com.au>
Cc: <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: What is a livelock? (was: [patch] sys_sync livelock fix)
In-Reply-To: <3C69A18A.501BAD42@zip.com.au>
From: Olaf Dietsche <olaf.dietsche--list.linux-kernel@exmail.de>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 02:36:45 +0100
In-Reply-To: <3C69A18A.501BAD42@zip.com.au> (Andrew Morton's message of
 "Tue, 12 Feb 2002 15:13:14 -0800")
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Andrew Morton <akpm@zip.com.au> writes:

> The get_request fairness patch exposed a livelock
> in the buffer layer.  write_unlocked_buffers() will
> not terminate while other tasks are generating write traffic.

The subject says it: what is a livelock? How is it different 
from a deadlock?

Thanks, Olaf.
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