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Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN"
3 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" []>
4
5<book id="lk-hacking-guide">
6 <bookinfo>
7 <title>Unreliable Guide To Hacking The Linux Kernel</title>
8
9 <authorgroup>
10 <author>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -070011 <firstname>Rusty</firstname>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070012 <surname>Russell</surname>
13 <affiliation>
14 <address>
15 <email>rusty@rustcorp.com.au</email>
16 </address>
17 </affiliation>
18 </author>
19 </authorgroup>
20
21 <copyright>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -070022 <year>2005</year>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070023 <holder>Rusty Russell</holder>
24 </copyright>
25
26 <legalnotice>
27 <para>
28 This documentation is free software; you can redistribute
29 it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public
30 License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
31 version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
32 version.
33 </para>
34
35 <para>
36 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be
37 useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
38 warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
39 See the GNU General Public License for more details.
40 </para>
41
42 <para>
43 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
44 License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
45 Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston,
46 MA 02111-1307 USA
47 </para>
48
49 <para>
50 For more details see the file COPYING in the source
51 distribution of Linux.
52 </para>
53 </legalnotice>
54
55 <releaseinfo>
56 This is the first release of this document as part of the kernel tarball.
57 </releaseinfo>
58
59 </bookinfo>
60
61 <toc></toc>
62
63 <chapter id="introduction">
64 <title>Introduction</title>
65 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -070066 Welcome, gentle reader, to Rusty's Remarkably Unreliable Guide to Linux
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070067 Kernel Hacking. This document describes the common routines and
68 general requirements for kernel code: its goal is to serve as a
69 primer for Linux kernel development for experienced C
70 programmers. I avoid implementation details: that's what the
71 code is for, and I ignore whole tracts of useful routines.
72 </para>
73 <para>
74 Before you read this, please understand that I never wanted to
75 write this document, being grossly under-qualified, but I always
76 wanted to read it, and this was the only way. I hope it will
77 grow into a compendium of best practice, common starting points
78 and random information.
79 </para>
80 </chapter>
81
82 <chapter id="basic-players">
83 <title>The Players</title>
84
85 <para>
86 At any time each of the CPUs in a system can be:
87 </para>
88
89 <itemizedlist>
90 <listitem>
91 <para>
92 not associated with any process, serving a hardware interrupt;
93 </para>
94 </listitem>
95
96 <listitem>
97 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -070098 not associated with any process, serving a softirq or tasklet;
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -070099 </para>
100 </listitem>
101
102 <listitem>
103 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700104 running in kernel space, associated with a process (user context);
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700105 </para>
106 </listitem>
107
108 <listitem>
109 <para>
110 running a process in user space.
111 </para>
112 </listitem>
113 </itemizedlist>
114
115 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700116 There is an ordering between these. The bottom two can preempt
117 each other, but above that is a strict hierarchy: each can only be
118 preempted by the ones above it. For example, while a softirq is
119 running on a CPU, no other softirq will preempt it, but a hardware
120 interrupt can. However, any other CPUs in the system execute
121 independently.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700122 </para>
123
124 <para>
125 We'll see a number of ways that the user context can block
126 interrupts, to become truly non-preemptable.
127 </para>
128
129 <sect1 id="basics-usercontext">
130 <title>User Context</title>
131
132 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700133 User context is when you are coming in from a system call or other
134 trap: like userspace, you can be preempted by more important tasks
135 and by interrupts. You can sleep, by calling
136 <function>schedule()</function>.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700137 </para>
138
139 <note>
140 <para>
141 You are always in user context on module load and unload,
142 and on operations on the block device layer.
143 </para>
144 </note>
145
146 <para>
147 In user context, the <varname>current</varname> pointer (indicating
148 the task we are currently executing) is valid, and
149 <function>in_interrupt()</function>
150 (<filename>include/linux/interrupt.h</filename>) is <returnvalue>false
151 </returnvalue>.
152 </para>
153
154 <caution>
155 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700156 Beware that if you have preemption or softirqs disabled
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700157 (see below), <function>in_interrupt()</function> will return a
158 false positive.
159 </para>
160 </caution>
161 </sect1>
162
163 <sect1 id="basics-hardirqs">
164 <title>Hardware Interrupts (Hard IRQs)</title>
165
166 <para>
167 Timer ticks, <hardware>network cards</hardware> and
168 <hardware>keyboard</hardware> are examples of real
169 hardware which produce interrupts at any time. The kernel runs
170 interrupt handlers, which services the hardware. The kernel
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700171 guarantees that this handler is never re-entered: if the same
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700172 interrupt arrives, it is queued (or dropped). Because it
173 disables interrupts, this handler has to be fast: frequently it
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700174 simply acknowledges the interrupt, marks a 'software interrupt'
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700175 for execution and exits.
176 </para>
177
178 <para>
179 You can tell you are in a hardware interrupt, because
180 <function>in_irq()</function> returns <returnvalue>true</returnvalue>.
181 </para>
182 <caution>
183 <para>
184 Beware that this will return a false positive if interrupts are disabled
185 (see below).
186 </para>
187 </caution>
188 </sect1>
189
190 <sect1 id="basics-softirqs">
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700191 <title>Software Interrupt Context: Softirqs and Tasklets</title>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700192
193 <para>
194 Whenever a system call is about to return to userspace, or a
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700195 hardware interrupt handler exits, any 'software interrupts'
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700196 which are marked pending (usually by hardware interrupts) are
197 run (<filename>kernel/softirq.c</filename>).
198 </para>
199
200 <para>
201 Much of the real interrupt handling work is done here. Early in
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700202 the transition to <acronym>SMP</acronym>, there were only 'bottom
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700203 halves' (BHs), which didn't take advantage of multiple CPUs. Shortly
204 after we switched from wind-up computers made of match-sticks and snot,
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700205 we abandoned this limitation and switched to 'softirqs'.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700206 </para>
207
208 <para>
209 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/interrupt.h</filename> lists the
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700210 different softirqs. A very important softirq is the
211 timer softirq (<filename
212 class="headerfile">include/linux/timer.h</filename>): you can
213 register to have it call functions for you in a given length of
214 time.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700215 </para>
216
217 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700218 Softirqs are often a pain to deal with, since the same softirq
219 will run simultaneously on more than one CPU. For this reason,
220 tasklets (<filename
221 class="headerfile">include/linux/interrupt.h</filename>) are more
222 often used: they are dynamically-registrable (meaning you can have
223 as many as you want), and they also guarantee that any tasklet
224 will only run on one CPU at any time, although different tasklets
225 can run simultaneously.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700226 </para>
227 <caution>
228 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700229 The name 'tasklet' is misleading: they have nothing to do with 'tasks',
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700230 and probably more to do with some bad vodka Alexey Kuznetsov had at the
231 time.
232 </para>
233 </caution>
234
235 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700236 You can tell you are in a softirq (or tasklet)
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700237 using the <function>in_softirq()</function> macro
238 (<filename class="headerfile">include/linux/interrupt.h</filename>).
239 </para>
240 <caution>
241 <para>
242 Beware that this will return a false positive if a bh lock (see below)
243 is held.
244 </para>
245 </caution>
246 </sect1>
247 </chapter>
248
249 <chapter id="basic-rules">
250 <title>Some Basic Rules</title>
251
252 <variablelist>
253 <varlistentry>
254 <term>No memory protection</term>
255 <listitem>
256 <para>
257 If you corrupt memory, whether in user context or
258 interrupt context, the whole machine will crash. Are you
259 sure you can't do what you want in userspace?
260 </para>
261 </listitem>
262 </varlistentry>
263
264 <varlistentry>
265 <term>No floating point or <acronym>MMX</acronym></term>
266 <listitem>
267 <para>
268 The <acronym>FPU</acronym> context is not saved; even in user
269 context the <acronym>FPU</acronym> state probably won't
270 correspond with the current process: you would mess with some
271 user process' <acronym>FPU</acronym> state. If you really want
272 to do this, you would have to explicitly save/restore the full
273 <acronym>FPU</acronym> state (and avoid context switches). It
274 is generally a bad idea; use fixed point arithmetic first.
275 </para>
276 </listitem>
277 </varlistentry>
278
279 <varlistentry>
280 <term>A rigid stack limit</term>
281 <listitem>
282 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700283 Depending on configuration options the kernel stack is about 3K to 6K for most 32-bit architectures: it's
284 about 14K on most 64-bit archs, and often shared with interrupts
285 so you can't use it all. Avoid deep recursion and huge local
286 arrays on the stack (allocate them dynamically instead).
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700287 </para>
288 </listitem>
289 </varlistentry>
290
291 <varlistentry>
292 <term>The Linux kernel is portable</term>
293 <listitem>
294 <para>
295 Let's keep it that way. Your code should be 64-bit clean,
296 and endian-independent. You should also minimize CPU
297 specific stuff, e.g. inline assembly should be cleanly
298 encapsulated and minimized to ease porting. Generally it
299 should be restricted to the architecture-dependent part of
300 the kernel tree.
301 </para>
302 </listitem>
303 </varlistentry>
304 </variablelist>
305 </chapter>
306
307 <chapter id="ioctls">
308 <title>ioctls: Not writing a new system call</title>
309
310 <para>
311 A system call generally looks like this
312 </para>
313
314 <programlisting>
315asmlinkage long sys_mycall(int arg)
316{
317 return 0;
318}
319 </programlisting>
320
321 <para>
322 First, in most cases you don't want to create a new system call.
323 You create a character device and implement an appropriate ioctl
324 for it. This is much more flexible than system calls, doesn't have
325 to be entered in every architecture's
326 <filename class="headerfile">include/asm/unistd.h</filename> and
327 <filename>arch/kernel/entry.S</filename> file, and is much more
328 likely to be accepted by Linus.
329 </para>
330
331 <para>
332 If all your routine does is read or write some parameter, consider
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700333 implementing a <function>sysfs</function> interface instead.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700334 </para>
335
336 <para>
337 Inside the ioctl you're in user context to a process. When a
338 error occurs you return a negated errno (see
339 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/errno.h</filename>),
340 otherwise you return <returnvalue>0</returnvalue>.
341 </para>
342
343 <para>
344 After you slept you should check if a signal occurred: the
345 Unix/Linux way of handling signals is to temporarily exit the
346 system call with the <constant>-ERESTARTSYS</constant> error. The
347 system call entry code will switch back to user context, process
348 the signal handler and then your system call will be restarted
349 (unless the user disabled that). So you should be prepared to
350 process the restart, e.g. if you're in the middle of manipulating
351 some data structure.
352 </para>
353
354 <programlisting>
Shawn Bohrer2770f182009-12-06 18:30:44 -0800355if (signal_pending(current))
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700356 return -ERESTARTSYS;
357 </programlisting>
358
359 <para>
360 If you're doing longer computations: first think userspace. If you
361 <emphasis>really</emphasis> want to do it in kernel you should
362 regularly check if you need to give up the CPU (remember there is
363 cooperative multitasking per CPU). Idiom:
364 </para>
365
366 <programlisting>
367cond_resched(); /* Will sleep */
368 </programlisting>
369
370 <para>
371 A short note on interface design: the UNIX system call motto is
372 "Provide mechanism not policy".
373 </para>
374 </chapter>
375
376 <chapter id="deadlock-recipes">
377 <title>Recipes for Deadlock</title>
378
379 <para>
380 You cannot call any routines which may sleep, unless:
381 </para>
382 <itemizedlist>
383 <listitem>
384 <para>
385 You are in user context.
386 </para>
387 </listitem>
388
389 <listitem>
390 <para>
391 You do not own any spinlocks.
392 </para>
393 </listitem>
394
395 <listitem>
396 <para>
397 You have interrupts enabled (actually, Andi Kleen says
398 that the scheduling code will enable them for you, but
399 that's probably not what you wanted).
400 </para>
401 </listitem>
402 </itemizedlist>
403
404 <para>
405 Note that some functions may sleep implicitly: common ones are
406 the user space access functions (*_user) and memory allocation
407 functions without <symbol>GFP_ATOMIC</symbol>.
408 </para>
409
410 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700411 You should always compile your kernel
Frederic Weisbeckerd902db12011-06-08 19:31:56 +0200412 <symbol>CONFIG_DEBUG_ATOMIC_SLEEP</symbol> on, and it will warn
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700413 you if you break these rules. If you <emphasis>do</emphasis> break
414 the rules, you will eventually lock up your box.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700415 </para>
416
417 <para>
418 Really.
419 </para>
420 </chapter>
421
422 <chapter id="common-routines">
423 <title>Common Routines</title>
424
425 <sect1 id="routines-printk">
426 <title>
427 <function>printk()</function>
428 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/kernel.h</filename>
429 </title>
430
431 <para>
432 <function>printk()</function> feeds kernel messages to the
433 console, dmesg, and the syslog daemon. It is useful for debugging
434 and reporting errors, and can be used inside interrupt context,
435 but use with caution: a machine which has its console flooded with
436 printk messages is unusable. It uses a format string mostly
437 compatible with ANSI C printf, and C string concatenation to give
438 it a first "priority" argument:
439 </para>
440
441 <programlisting>
442printk(KERN_INFO "i = %u\n", i);
443 </programlisting>
444
445 <para>
446 See <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/kernel.h</filename>;
447 for other KERN_ values; these are interpreted by syslog as the
448 level. Special case: for printing an IP address use
449 </para>
450
451 <programlisting>
Tobias Klauser2a8aaac2009-07-30 13:10:50 -0700452__be32 ipaddress;
453printk(KERN_INFO "my ip: %pI4\n", &amp;ipaddress);
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700454 </programlisting>
455
456 <para>
457 <function>printk()</function> internally uses a 1K buffer and does
458 not catch overruns. Make sure that will be enough.
459 </para>
460
461 <note>
462 <para>
463 You will know when you are a real kernel hacker
464 when you start typoing printf as printk in your user programs :)
465 </para>
466 </note>
467
468 <!--- From the Lions book reader department -->
469
470 <note>
471 <para>
472 Another sidenote: the original Unix Version 6 sources had a
473 comment on top of its printf function: "Printf should not be
474 used for chit-chat". You should follow that advice.
475 </para>
476 </note>
477 </sect1>
478
479 <sect1 id="routines-copy">
480 <title>
481 <function>copy_[to/from]_user()</function>
482 /
483 <function>get_user()</function>
484 /
485 <function>put_user()</function>
Al Viroaa7eb9a2016-09-05 12:19:49 -0400486 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/uaccess.h</filename>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700487 </title>
488
489 <para>
490 <emphasis>[SLEEPS]</emphasis>
491 </para>
492
493 <para>
494 <function>put_user()</function> and <function>get_user()</function>
495 are used to get and put single values (such as an int, char, or
496 long) from and to userspace. A pointer into userspace should
497 never be simply dereferenced: data should be copied using these
498 routines. Both return <constant>-EFAULT</constant> or 0.
499 </para>
500 <para>
501 <function>copy_to_user()</function> and
502 <function>copy_from_user()</function> are more general: they copy
503 an arbitrary amount of data to and from userspace.
504 <caution>
505 <para>
506 Unlike <function>put_user()</function> and
507 <function>get_user()</function>, they return the amount of
508 uncopied data (ie. <returnvalue>0</returnvalue> still means
509 success).
510 </para>
511 </caution>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700512 [Yes, this moronic interface makes me cringe. The flamewar comes up every year or so. --RR.]
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700513 </para>
514 <para>
515 The functions may sleep implicitly. This should never be called
516 outside user context (it makes no sense), with interrupts
517 disabled, or a spinlock held.
518 </para>
519 </sect1>
520
521 <sect1 id="routines-kmalloc">
522 <title><function>kmalloc()</function>/<function>kfree()</function>
523 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/slab.h</filename></title>
524
525 <para>
526 <emphasis>[MAY SLEEP: SEE BELOW]</emphasis>
527 </para>
528
529 <para>
530 These routines are used to dynamically request pointer-aligned
531 chunks of memory, like malloc and free do in userspace, but
532 <function>kmalloc()</function> takes an extra flag word.
533 Important values:
534 </para>
535
536 <variablelist>
537 <varlistentry>
538 <term>
539 <constant>
540 GFP_KERNEL
541 </constant>
542 </term>
543 <listitem>
544 <para>
545 May sleep and swap to free memory. Only allowed in user
546 context, but is the most reliable way to allocate memory.
547 </para>
548 </listitem>
549 </varlistentry>
550
551 <varlistentry>
552 <term>
553 <constant>
554 GFP_ATOMIC
555 </constant>
556 </term>
557 <listitem>
558 <para>
559 Don't sleep. Less reliable than <constant>GFP_KERNEL</constant>,
560 but may be called from interrupt context. You should
561 <emphasis>really</emphasis> have a good out-of-memory
562 error-handling strategy.
563 </para>
564 </listitem>
565 </varlistentry>
566
567 <varlistentry>
568 <term>
569 <constant>
570 GFP_DMA
571 </constant>
572 </term>
573 <listitem>
574 <para>
575 Allocate ISA DMA lower than 16MB. If you don't know what that
576 is you don't need it. Very unreliable.
577 </para>
578 </listitem>
579 </varlistentry>
580 </variablelist>
581
582 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700583 If you see a <errorname>sleeping function called from invalid
584 context</errorname> warning message, then maybe you called a
585 sleeping allocation function from interrupt context without
586 <constant>GFP_ATOMIC</constant>. You should really fix that.
587 Run, don't walk.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700588 </para>
589
590 <para>
591 If you are allocating at least <constant>PAGE_SIZE</constant>
592 (<filename class="headerfile">include/asm/page.h</filename>) bytes,
593 consider using <function>__get_free_pages()</function>
594
595 (<filename class="headerfile">include/linux/mm.h</filename>). It
596 takes an order argument (0 for page sized, 1 for double page, 2
597 for four pages etc.) and the same memory priority flag word as
598 above.
599 </para>
600
601 <para>
602 If you are allocating more than a page worth of bytes you can use
603 <function>vmalloc()</function>. It'll allocate virtual memory in
604 the kernel map. This block is not contiguous in physical memory,
605 but the <acronym>MMU</acronym> makes it look like it is for you
606 (so it'll only look contiguous to the CPUs, not to external device
607 drivers). If you really need large physically contiguous memory
608 for some weird device, you have a problem: it is poorly supported
609 in Linux because after some time memory fragmentation in a running
610 kernel makes it hard. The best way is to allocate the block early
611 in the boot process via the <function>alloc_bootmem()</function>
612 routine.
613 </para>
614
615 <para>
616 Before inventing your own cache of often-used objects consider
617 using a slab cache in
618 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/slab.h</filename>
619 </para>
620 </sect1>
621
622 <sect1 id="routines-current">
623 <title><function>current</function>
624 <filename class="headerfile">include/asm/current.h</filename></title>
625
626 <para>
627 This global variable (really a macro) contains a pointer to
628 the current task structure, so is only valid in user context.
629 For example, when a process makes a system call, this will
630 point to the task structure of the calling process. It is
631 <emphasis>not NULL</emphasis> in interrupt context.
632 </para>
633 </sect1>
634
635 <sect1 id="routines-udelay">
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700636 <title><function>mdelay()</function>/<function>udelay()</function>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700637 <filename class="headerfile">include/asm/delay.h</filename>
638 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/delay.h</filename>
639 </title>
640
641 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700642 The <function>udelay()</function> and <function>ndelay()</function> functions can be used for small pauses.
643 Do not use large values with them as you risk
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700644 overflow - the helper function <function>mdelay()</function> is useful
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700645 here, or consider <function>msleep()</function>.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700646 </para>
647 </sect1>
648
649 <sect1 id="routines-endian">
650 <title><function>cpu_to_be32()</function>/<function>be32_to_cpu()</function>/<function>cpu_to_le32()</function>/<function>le32_to_cpu()</function>
651 <filename class="headerfile">include/asm/byteorder.h</filename>
652 </title>
653
654 <para>
655 The <function>cpu_to_be32()</function> family (where the "32" can
656 be replaced by 64 or 16, and the "be" can be replaced by "le") are
657 the general way to do endian conversions in the kernel: they
658 return the converted value. All variations supply the reverse as
659 well: <function>be32_to_cpu()</function>, etc.
660 </para>
661
662 <para>
663 There are two major variations of these functions: the pointer
664 variation, such as <function>cpu_to_be32p()</function>, which take
665 a pointer to the given type, and return the converted value. The
666 other variation is the "in-situ" family, such as
667 <function>cpu_to_be32s()</function>, which convert value referred
668 to by the pointer, and return void.
669 </para>
670 </sect1>
671
672 <sect1 id="routines-local-irqs">
673 <title><function>local_irq_save()</function>/<function>local_irq_restore()</function>
David Howells95663282014-04-07 15:39:21 -0700674 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/irqflags.h</filename>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700675 </title>
676
677 <para>
678 These routines disable hard interrupts on the local CPU, and
679 restore them. They are reentrant; saving the previous state in
680 their one <varname>unsigned long flags</varname> argument. If you
681 know that interrupts are enabled, you can simply use
682 <function>local_irq_disable()</function> and
683 <function>local_irq_enable()</function>.
684 </para>
685 </sect1>
686
687 <sect1 id="routines-softirqs">
688 <title><function>local_bh_disable()</function>/<function>local_bh_enable()</function>
689 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/interrupt.h</filename></title>
690
691 <para>
692 These routines disable soft interrupts on the local CPU, and
693 restore them. They are reentrant; if soft interrupts were
694 disabled before, they will still be disabled after this pair
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700695 of functions has been called. They prevent softirqs and tasklets
696 from running on the current CPU.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700697 </para>
698 </sect1>
699
700 <sect1 id="routines-processorids">
701 <title><function>smp_processor_id</function>()
702 <filename class="headerfile">include/asm/smp.h</filename></title>
703
704 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700705 <function>get_cpu()</function> disables preemption (so you won't
706 suddenly get moved to another CPU) and returns the current
707 processor number, between 0 and <symbol>NR_CPUS</symbol>. Note
708 that the CPU numbers are not necessarily continuous. You return
709 it again with <function>put_cpu()</function> when you are done.
710 </para>
711 <para>
712 If you know you cannot be preempted by another task (ie. you are
713 in interrupt context, or have preemption disabled) you can use
714 smp_processor_id().
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700715 </para>
716 </sect1>
717
718 <sect1 id="routines-init">
719 <title><type>__init</type>/<type>__exit</type>/<type>__initdata</type>
720 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/init.h</filename></title>
721
722 <para>
723 After boot, the kernel frees up a special section; functions
724 marked with <type>__init</type> and data structures marked with
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700725 <type>__initdata</type> are dropped after boot is complete: similarly
726 modules discard this memory after initialization. <type>__exit</type>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700727 is used to declare a function which is only required on exit: the
728 function will be dropped if this file is not compiled as a module.
729 See the header file for use. Note that it makes no sense for a function
730 marked with <type>__init</type> to be exported to modules with
731 <function>EXPORT_SYMBOL()</function> - this will break.
732 </para>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700733
734 </sect1>
735
736 <sect1 id="routines-init-again">
737 <title><function>__initcall()</function>/<function>module_init()</function>
738 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/init.h</filename></title>
739 <para>
740 Many parts of the kernel are well served as a module
741 (dynamically-loadable parts of the kernel). Using the
742 <function>module_init()</function> and
743 <function>module_exit()</function> macros it is easy to write code
744 without #ifdefs which can operate both as a module or built into
745 the kernel.
746 </para>
747
748 <para>
749 The <function>module_init()</function> macro defines which
750 function is to be called at module insertion time (if the file is
751 compiled as a module), or at boot time: if the file is not
752 compiled as a module the <function>module_init()</function> macro
753 becomes equivalent to <function>__initcall()</function>, which
754 through linker magic ensures that the function is called on boot.
755 </para>
756
757 <para>
758 The function can return a negative error number to cause
759 module loading to fail (unfortunately, this has no effect if
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700760 the module is compiled into the kernel). This function is
761 called in user context with interrupts enabled, so it can sleep.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700762 </para>
763 </sect1>
764
765 <sect1 id="routines-moduleexit">
766 <title> <function>module_exit()</function>
767 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/init.h</filename> </title>
768
769 <para>
770 This macro defines the function to be called at module removal
771 time (or never, in the case of the file compiled into the
772 kernel). It will only be called if the module usage count has
773 reached zero. This function can also sleep, but cannot fail:
774 everything must be cleaned up by the time it returns.
775 </para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700776
777 <para>
778 Note that this macro is optional: if it is not present, your
779 module will not be removable (except for 'rmmod -f').
780 </para>
781 </sect1>
782
783 <sect1 id="routines-module-use-counters">
784 <title> <function>try_module_get()</function>/<function>module_put()</function>
785 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/module.h</filename></title>
786
787 <para>
788 These manipulate the module usage count, to protect against
789 removal (a module also can't be removed if another module uses one
790 of its exported symbols: see below). Before calling into module
791 code, you should call <function>try_module_get()</function> on
792 that module: if it fails, then the module is being removed and you
793 should act as if it wasn't there. Otherwise, you can safely enter
794 the module, and call <function>module_put()</function> when you're
795 finished.
796 </para>
797
798 <para>
799 Most registerable structures have an
800 <structfield>owner</structfield> field, such as in the
801 <structname>file_operations</structname> structure. Set this field
802 to the macro <symbol>THIS_MODULE</symbol>.
803 </para>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700804 </sect1>
805
806 <!-- add info on new-style module refcounting here -->
807 </chapter>
808
809 <chapter id="queues">
810 <title>Wait Queues
811 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/wait.h</filename>
812 </title>
813 <para>
814 <emphasis>[SLEEPS]</emphasis>
815 </para>
816
817 <para>
818 A wait queue is used to wait for someone to wake you up when a
819 certain condition is true. They must be used carefully to ensure
820 there is no race condition. You declare a
821 <type>wait_queue_head_t</type>, and then processes which want to
822 wait for that condition declare a <type>wait_queue_t</type>
823 referring to themselves, and place that in the queue.
824 </para>
825
826 <sect1 id="queue-declaring">
827 <title>Declaring</title>
828
829 <para>
830 You declare a <type>wait_queue_head_t</type> using the
831 <function>DECLARE_WAIT_QUEUE_HEAD()</function> macro, or using the
832 <function>init_waitqueue_head()</function> routine in your
833 initialization code.
834 </para>
835 </sect1>
836
837 <sect1 id="queue-waitqueue">
838 <title>Queuing</title>
839
840 <para>
841 Placing yourself in the waitqueue is fairly complex, because you
842 must put yourself in the queue before checking the condition.
843 There is a macro to do this:
844 <function>wait_event_interruptible()</function>
845
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700846 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/wait.h</filename> The
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700847 first argument is the wait queue head, and the second is an
848 expression which is evaluated; the macro returns
849 <returnvalue>0</returnvalue> when this expression is true, or
850 <returnvalue>-ERESTARTSYS</returnvalue> if a signal is received.
851 The <function>wait_event()</function> version ignores signals.
852 </para>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700853
854 </sect1>
855
856 <sect1 id="queue-waking">
857 <title>Waking Up Queued Tasks</title>
858
859 <para>
860 Call <function>wake_up()</function>
861
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700862 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/wait.h</filename>;,
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700863 which will wake up every process in the queue. The exception is
864 if one has <constant>TASK_EXCLUSIVE</constant> set, in which case
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700865 the remainder of the queue will not be woken. There are other variants
866 of this basic function available in the same header.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700867 </para>
868 </sect1>
869 </chapter>
870
871 <chapter id="atomic-ops">
872 <title>Atomic Operations</title>
873
874 <para>
875 Certain operations are guaranteed atomic on all platforms. The
876 first class of operations work on <type>atomic_t</type>
877
878 <filename class="headerfile">include/asm/atomic.h</filename>; this
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700879 contains a signed integer (at least 32 bits long), and you must use
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700880 these functions to manipulate or read atomic_t variables.
881 <function>atomic_read()</function> and
882 <function>atomic_set()</function> get and set the counter,
883 <function>atomic_add()</function>,
884 <function>atomic_sub()</function>,
885 <function>atomic_inc()</function>,
886 <function>atomic_dec()</function>, and
887 <function>atomic_dec_and_test()</function> (returns
888 <returnvalue>true</returnvalue> if it was decremented to zero).
889 </para>
890
891 <para>
892 Yes. It returns <returnvalue>true</returnvalue> (i.e. != 0) if the
893 atomic variable is zero.
894 </para>
895
896 <para>
897 Note that these functions are slower than normal arithmetic, and
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700898 so should not be used unnecessarily.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700899 </para>
900
901 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700902 The second class of atomic operations is atomic bit operations on an
903 <type>unsigned long</type>, defined in
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700904
905 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/bitops.h</filename>. These
906 operations generally take a pointer to the bit pattern, and a bit
907 number: 0 is the least significant bit.
908 <function>set_bit()</function>, <function>clear_bit()</function>
909 and <function>change_bit()</function> set, clear, and flip the
910 given bit. <function>test_and_set_bit()</function>,
911 <function>test_and_clear_bit()</function> and
912 <function>test_and_change_bit()</function> do the same thing,
913 except return true if the bit was previously set; these are
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700914 particularly useful for atomically setting flags.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700915 </para>
916
917 <para>
918 It is possible to call these operations with bit indices greater
919 than BITS_PER_LONG. The resulting behavior is strange on big-endian
920 platforms though so it is a good idea not to do this.
921 </para>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700922 </chapter>
923
924 <chapter id="symbols">
925 <title>Symbols</title>
926
927 <para>
928 Within the kernel proper, the normal linking rules apply
929 (ie. unless a symbol is declared to be file scope with the
930 <type>static</type> keyword, it can be used anywhere in the
931 kernel). However, for modules, a special exported symbol table is
932 kept which limits the entry points to the kernel proper. Modules
933 can also export symbols.
934 </para>
935
936 <sect1 id="sym-exportsymbols">
937 <title><function>EXPORT_SYMBOL()</function>
Paul Gortmakerdf634472013-02-14 15:32:04 -0500938 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/export.h</filename></title>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700939
940 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700941 This is the classic method of exporting a symbol: dynamically
942 loaded modules will be able to use the symbol as normal.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700943 </para>
944 </sect1>
945
946 <sect1 id="sym-exportsymbols-gpl">
947 <title><function>EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL()</function>
Paul Gortmakerdf634472013-02-14 15:32:04 -0500948 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/export.h</filename></title>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700949
950 <para>
951 Similar to <function>EXPORT_SYMBOL()</function> except that the
952 symbols exported by <function>EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL()</function> can
953 only be seen by modules with a
954 <function>MODULE_LICENSE()</function> that specifies a GPL
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700955 compatible license. It implies that the function is considered
956 an internal implementation issue, and not really an interface.
Luis R. Rodriguez582ed8d2015-05-28 11:56:01 -0700957 Some maintainers and developers may however
958 require EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL() when adding any new APIs or functionality.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700959 </para>
960 </sect1>
961 </chapter>
962
963 <chapter id="conventions">
964 <title>Routines and Conventions</title>
965
966 <sect1 id="conventions-doublelinkedlist">
967 <title>Double-linked lists
968 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/list.h</filename></title>
969
970 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700971 There used to be three sets of linked-list routines in the kernel
972 headers, but this one is the winner. If you don't have some
973 particular pressing need for a single list, it's a good choice.
974 </para>
975
976 <para>
977 In particular, <function>list_for_each_entry</function> is useful.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700978 </para>
979 </sect1>
980
981 <sect1 id="convention-returns">
982 <title>Return Conventions</title>
983
984 <para>
985 For code called in user context, it's very common to defy C
986 convention, and return <returnvalue>0</returnvalue> for success,
987 and a negative error number
988 (eg. <returnvalue>-EFAULT</returnvalue>) for failure. This can be
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700989 unintuitive at first, but it's fairly widespread in the kernel.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700990 </para>
991
992 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700993 Using <function>ERR_PTR()</function>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700994
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -0700995 <filename class="headerfile">include/linux/err.h</filename>; to
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -0700996 encode a negative error number into a pointer, and
997 <function>IS_ERR()</function> and <function>PTR_ERR()</function>
998 to get it back out again: avoids a separate pointer parameter for
999 the error number. Icky, but in a good way.
1000 </para>
1001 </sect1>
1002
1003 <sect1 id="conventions-borkedcompile">
1004 <title>Breaking Compilation</title>
1005
1006 <para>
1007 Linus and the other developers sometimes change function or
1008 structure names in development kernels; this is not done just to
1009 keep everyone on their toes: it reflects a fundamental change
1010 (eg. can no longer be called with interrupts on, or does extra
1011 checks, or doesn't do checks which were caught before). Usually
1012 this is accompanied by a fairly complete note to the linux-kernel
1013 mailing list; search the archive. Simply doing a global replace
1014 on the file usually makes things <emphasis>worse</emphasis>.
1015 </para>
1016 </sect1>
1017
1018 <sect1 id="conventions-initialising">
1019 <title>Initializing structure members</title>
1020
1021 <para>
1022 The preferred method of initializing structures is to use
1023 designated initialisers, as defined by ISO C99, eg:
1024 </para>
1025 <programlisting>
1026static struct block_device_operations opt_fops = {
1027 .open = opt_open,
1028 .release = opt_release,
1029 .ioctl = opt_ioctl,
1030 .check_media_change = opt_media_change,
1031};
1032 </programlisting>
1033 <para>
1034 This makes it easy to grep for, and makes it clear which
1035 structure fields are set. You should do this because it looks
1036 cool.
1037 </para>
1038 </sect1>
1039
1040 <sect1 id="conventions-gnu-extns">
1041 <title>GNU Extensions</title>
1042
1043 <para>
1044 GNU Extensions are explicitly allowed in the Linux kernel.
1045 Note that some of the more complex ones are not very well
1046 supported, due to lack of general use, but the following are
1047 considered standard (see the GCC info page section "C
1048 Extensions" for more details - Yes, really the info page, the
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -07001049 man page is only a short summary of the stuff in info).
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001050 </para>
1051 <itemizedlist>
1052 <listitem>
1053 <para>
1054 Inline functions
1055 </para>
1056 </listitem>
1057 <listitem>
1058 <para>
1059 Statement expressions (ie. the ({ and }) constructs).
1060 </para>
1061 </listitem>
1062 <listitem>
1063 <para>
1064 Declaring attributes of a function / variable / type
1065 (__attribute__)
1066 </para>
1067 </listitem>
1068 <listitem>
1069 <para>
1070 typeof
1071 </para>
1072 </listitem>
1073 <listitem>
1074 <para>
1075 Zero length arrays
1076 </para>
1077 </listitem>
1078 <listitem>
1079 <para>
1080 Macro varargs
1081 </para>
1082 </listitem>
1083 <listitem>
1084 <para>
1085 Arithmetic on void pointers
1086 </para>
1087 </listitem>
1088 <listitem>
1089 <para>
1090 Non-Constant initializers
1091 </para>
1092 </listitem>
1093 <listitem>
1094 <para>
1095 Assembler Instructions (not outside arch/ and include/asm/)
1096 </para>
1097 </listitem>
1098 <listitem>
1099 <para>
Harvey Harrison653c0312008-10-20 16:00:08 -07001100 Function names as strings (__func__).
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001101 </para>
1102 </listitem>
1103 <listitem>
1104 <para>
1105 __builtin_constant_p()
1106 </para>
1107 </listitem>
1108 </itemizedlist>
1109
1110 <para>
1111 Be wary when using long long in the kernel, the code gcc generates for
1112 it is horrible and worse: division and multiplication does not work
1113 on i386 because the GCC runtime functions for it are missing from
1114 the kernel environment.
1115 </para>
1116
1117 <!-- FIXME: add a note about ANSI aliasing cleanness -->
1118 </sect1>
1119
1120 <sect1 id="conventions-cplusplus">
1121 <title>C++</title>
1122
1123 <para>
1124 Using C++ in the kernel is usually a bad idea, because the
1125 kernel does not provide the necessary runtime environment
1126 and the include files are not tested for it. It is still
1127 possible, but not recommended. If you really want to do
1128 this, forget about exceptions at least.
1129 </para>
1130 </sect1>
1131
1132 <sect1 id="conventions-ifdef">
1133 <title>&num;if</title>
1134
1135 <para>
1136 It is generally considered cleaner to use macros in header files
1137 (or at the top of .c files) to abstract away functions rather than
1138 using `#if' pre-processor statements throughout the source code.
1139 </para>
1140 </sect1>
1141 </chapter>
1142
1143 <chapter id="submitting">
1144 <title>Putting Your Stuff in the Kernel</title>
1145
1146 <para>
1147 In order to get your stuff into shape for official inclusion, or
1148 even to make a neat patch, there's administrative work to be
1149 done:
1150 </para>
1151 <itemizedlist>
1152 <listitem>
1153 <para>
1154 Figure out whose pond you've been pissing in. Look at the top of
1155 the source files, inside the <filename>MAINTAINERS</filename>
1156 file, and last of all in the <filename>CREDITS</filename> file.
1157 You should coordinate with this person to make sure you're not
1158 duplicating effort, or trying something that's already been
1159 rejected.
1160 </para>
1161
1162 <para>
1163 Make sure you put your name and EMail address at the top of
1164 any files you create or mangle significantly. This is the
1165 first place people will look when they find a bug, or when
1166 <emphasis>they</emphasis> want to make a change.
1167 </para>
1168 </listitem>
1169
1170 <listitem>
1171 <para>
1172 Usually you want a configuration option for your kernel hack.
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -07001173 Edit <filename>Kconfig</filename> in the appropriate directory.
1174 The Config language is simple to use by cut and paste, and there's
1175 complete documentation in
1176 <filename>Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt</filename>.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001177 </para>
1178
1179 <para>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -07001180 In your description of the option, make sure you address both the
1181 expert user and the user who knows nothing about your feature. Mention
1182 incompatibilities and issues here. <emphasis> Definitely
1183 </emphasis> end your description with <quote> if in doubt, say N
1184 </quote> (or, occasionally, `Y'); this is for people who have no
1185 idea what you are talking about.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001186 </para>
1187 </listitem>
1188
1189 <listitem>
1190 <para>
1191 Edit the <filename>Makefile</filename>: the CONFIG variables are
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -07001192 exported here so you can usually just add a "obj-$(CONFIG_xxx) +=
1193 xxx.o" line. The syntax is documented in
1194 <filename>Documentation/kbuild/makefiles.txt</filename>.
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001195 </para>
1196 </listitem>
1197
1198 <listitem>
1199 <para>
1200 Put yourself in <filename>CREDITS</filename> if you've done
1201 something noteworthy, usually beyond a single file (your name
1202 should be at the top of the source files anyway).
1203 <filename>MAINTAINERS</filename> means you want to be consulted
1204 when changes are made to a subsystem, and hear about bugs; it
1205 implies a more-than-passing commitment to some part of the code.
1206 </para>
1207 </listitem>
1208
1209 <listitem>
1210 <para>
1211 Finally, don't forget to read <filename>Documentation/SubmittingPatches</filename>
1212 and possibly <filename>Documentation/SubmittingDrivers</filename>.
1213 </para>
1214 </listitem>
1215 </itemizedlist>
1216 </chapter>
1217
1218 <chapter id="cantrips">
1219 <title>Kernel Cantrips</title>
1220
1221 <para>
1222 Some favorites from browsing the source. Feel free to add to this
1223 list.
1224 </para>
1225
1226 <para>
Randy Dunlapa1a739c2008-10-25 17:24:36 -07001227 <filename>arch/x86/include/asm/delay.h:</filename>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001228 </para>
1229 <programlisting>
Rusty Russellb6c17ea2005-09-09 13:10:11 -07001230#define ndelay(n) (__builtin_constant_p(n) ? \
1231 ((n) > 20000 ? __bad_ndelay() : __const_udelay((n) * 5ul)) : \
1232 __ndelay(n))
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001233 </programlisting>
1234
1235 <para>
1236 <filename>include/linux/fs.h</filename>:
1237 </para>
1238 <programlisting>
1239/*
1240 * Kernel pointers have redundant information, so we can use a
1241 * scheme where we can return either an error code or a dentry
1242 * pointer with the same return value.
1243 *
1244 * This should be a per-architecture thing, to allow different
1245 * error and pointer decisions.
1246 */
1247 #define ERR_PTR(err) ((void *)((long)(err)))
1248 #define PTR_ERR(ptr) ((long)(ptr))
1249 #define IS_ERR(ptr) ((unsigned long)(ptr) > (unsigned long)(-1000))
1250</programlisting>
1251
1252 <para>
Randy Dunlapa1a739c2008-10-25 17:24:36 -07001253 <filename>arch/x86/include/asm/uaccess_32.h:</filename>
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001254 </para>
1255
1256 <programlisting>
1257#define copy_to_user(to,from,n) \
1258 (__builtin_constant_p(n) ? \
1259 __constant_copy_to_user((to),(from),(n)) : \
1260 __generic_copy_to_user((to),(from),(n)))
1261 </programlisting>
1262
1263 <para>
1264 <filename>arch/sparc/kernel/head.S:</filename>
1265 </para>
1266
1267 <programlisting>
1268/*
1269 * Sun people can't spell worth damn. "compatability" indeed.
1270 * At least we *know* we can't spell, and use a spell-checker.
1271 */
1272
1273/* Uh, actually Linus it is I who cannot spell. Too much murky
1274 * Sparc assembly will do this to ya.
1275 */
1276C_LABEL(cputypvar):
Masanari Iidac94bed8e2012-04-10 00:22:13 +09001277 .asciz "compatibility"
Linus Torvalds1da177e2005-04-16 15:20:36 -07001278
1279/* Tested on SS-5, SS-10. Probably someone at Sun applied a spell-checker. */
1280 .align 4
1281C_LABEL(cputypvar_sun4m):
1282 .asciz "compatible"
1283 </programlisting>
1284
1285 <para>
1286 <filename>arch/sparc/lib/checksum.S:</filename>
1287 </para>
1288
1289 <programlisting>
1290 /* Sun, you just can't beat me, you just can't. Stop trying,
1291 * give up. I'm serious, I am going to kick the living shit
1292 * out of you, game over, lights out.
1293 */
1294 </programlisting>
1295 </chapter>
1296
1297 <chapter id="credits">
1298 <title>Thanks</title>
1299
1300 <para>
1301 Thanks to Andi Kleen for the idea, answering my questions, fixing
1302 my mistakes, filling content, etc. Philipp Rumpf for more spelling
1303 and clarity fixes, and some excellent non-obvious points. Werner
1304 Almesberger for giving me a great summary of
1305 <function>disable_irq()</function>, and Jes Sorensen and Andrea
1306 Arcangeli added caveats. Michael Elizabeth Chastain for checking
1307 and adding to the Configure section. <!-- Rusty insisted on this
1308 bit; I didn't do it! --> Telsa Gwynne for teaching me DocBook.
1309 </para>
1310 </chapter>
1311</book>
1312