[PATCH] Add EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL and EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL_GPL
Temporarily add EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL and EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL_GPL. These
will be used as a transition measure for symbols that aren't used in the
kernel and are on the way out. When a module uses such a symbol, a warning
is printk'd at modprobe time.
The main reason for removing unused exports is size: eacho export takes
roughly between 100 and 150 bytes of kernel space in the binary. This
patch gives users the option to immediately get this size gain via a config
option.
Signed-off-by: Arjan van de Ven <arjan@linux.intel.com>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@osdl.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
diff --git a/lib/Kconfig.debug b/lib/Kconfig.debug
index 5330911..e4fcbd1 100644
--- a/lib/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/lib/Kconfig.debug
@@ -23,6 +23,22 @@
keys are documented in <file:Documentation/sysrq.txt>. Don't say Y
unless you really know what this hack does.
+config UNUSED_SYMBOLS
+ bool "Enable unused/obsolete exported symbols"
+ default y if X86
+ help
+ Unused but exported symbols make the kernel needlessly bigger. For
+ that reason most of these unused exports will soon be removed. This
+ option is provided temporarily to provide a transition period in case
+ some external kernel module needs one of these symbols anyway. If you
+ encounter such a case in your module, consider if you are actually
+ using the right API. (rationale: since nobody in the kernel is using
+ this in a module, there is a pretty good chance it's actually the
+ wrong interface to use). If you really need the symbol, please send a
+ mail to the linux kernel mailing list mentioning the symbol and why
+ you really need it, and what the merge plan to the mainline kernel for
+ your module is.
+
config DEBUG_KERNEL
bool "Kernel debugging"
help