Re: [PATCH 2/8] rhashtable: remove nulls_base and related code.

[Herbert Xu]

On Fri, May 04, 2018 at 01:54:14PM +1000, NeilBrown wrote:
> This "feature" is unused, undocumented, and untested and so
> doesn't really belong.  If a use for the nulls marker
> is found, all this code would need to be reviewed to
> ensure it works as required.  It would be just as easy to
> just add the code if/when it is needed instead.
> 
> This patch actually fixes a bug too.  The table resizing allows a
> table to grow to 2^31 buckets, but the hash is truncated to 27 bits -
> any growth beyond 2^27 is wasteful an ineffective.
> 
> This patch result in NULLS_MARKER(0) being used for all chains,
> and leave the use of rht_is_a_null() to test for it.
> 
> Signed-off-by: NeilBrown <neilb@xxxxxxxx>

I disagree.  This is a fundamental requirement for the use of
rhashtable in certain networking systems such as TCP/UDP.  So
we know that there will be a use for this.

As to the bug fix, please separate it out of the patch and resubmit.

Thanks,
-- 
Email: Herbert Xu <herbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Home Page: http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/
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