in_atomic(): document why it is unsuitable for general use
Discourage people from inappropriately using in_atomic()
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
diff --git a/include/linux/hardirq.h b/include/linux/hardirq.h
index 4982998..897f723 100644
--- a/include/linux/hardirq.h
+++ b/include/linux/hardirq.h
@@ -72,6 +72,13 @@
#define in_softirq() (softirq_count())
#define in_interrupt() (irq_count())
+/*
+ * Are we running in atomic context? WARNING: this macro cannot
+ * always detect atomic context; in particular, it cannot know about
+ * held spinlocks in non-preemptible kernels. Thus it should not be
+ * used in the general case to determine whether sleeping is possible.
+ * Do not use in_atomic() in driver code.
+ */
#define in_atomic() ((preempt_count() & ~PREEMPT_ACTIVE) != 0)
#ifdef CONFIG_PREEMPT