usage of rcu_dereference_raw

[Pranith Kumar]

Hi Paul,

I was trying to see the various uses of rcu_dereference_ functions to
understand how they were being used. A doubt cropped up while doing this:

* rcu_dereference_raw(): the documentation explicitly mentions that this
  should be minimally used as this does no checking of read critical sections
  and does not implement barriers. But looking at the code, there are various
  places where this is being used and it is being used I think in a buggy
  way. For example, in drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/dvm/main.c, there is this:

        kfree(rcu_dereference_raw(priv->noa_data));

  I can't imagine a scenario in which this is valid. So my question is this:
  do most of the uses of rcu_dereference_raw() need to be changed to use other
  dereference functions or are there cases where its usage is valid?

Regards,
-- 
Pranith
--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/