Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S933086Ab1EMNf0 (ORCPT ); Fri, 13 May 2011 09:35:26 -0400 Received: from mgw2.diku.dk ([130.225.96.92]:51524 "EHLO mgw2.diku.dk" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1756185Ab1EMNfZ (ORCPT ); Fri, 13 May 2011 09:35:25 -0400 Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 15:35:20 +0200 (CEST) From: Julia Lawall To: Ben Hutchings Cc: Karsten Keil , netdev@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: question about drivers/isdn/hisax/st5481_init.c In-Reply-To: <1305292826.4065.443.camel@localhost> Message-ID: References: <1305292826.4065.443.camel@localhost> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Content-Length: 1421 Lines: 29 On Fri, 13 May 2011, Ben Hutchings wrote: > On Fri, 2011-05-13 at 07:53 +0200, Julia Lawall wrote: > > The function probe_st5481 allocates an adapter value using kzalloc, adds > > it to adapter_list, and then performs various initialization operations, > > which may fail. adapter_list is a static variable that is never otherwise > > referenced in the file. There is a list_del that removes the adapter from > > the list in the function disconnect_st5481. The presence of the adapter > > on the list makes it possibly unsafe to free adapter in the failure cases. > > > > Could the list just be removed, if it is not being used anywhere? > > > > Or if the list should be kept because it is useful or it is planned to be > > useful in the future, could the insertion into the list be moved to the > > end of the function, after the potentially failing operations, so that > > adapter can be freed when a failure occurs? > > Some older drivers have these device lists hanging around from before > the device model has implemented. If the list isn't being used now then > it's probably fine to remove. OK, I'll propose a patch in that direction. Thanks. julia -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/