Re: [PATCH v5 1/4] mm: Add address apis for ptdescs

[Vishal Moola (Oracle)]

On Wed, Feb 11, 2026 at 12:13:10PM -0800, Dave Hansen wrote:
> On 2/11/26 11:52, Vishal Moola (Oracle) wrote:
> > +/**
> > + * pgtable_alloc_addr - Allocate pagetables to get an address
> > + * @gfp:       GFP flags
> > + * @order:     desired pagetable order
> 
> FWIW, I don't like how pgtable_alloc_addr() looks in practice. It reads
> like it is: "allocate a page table address", not "allocate a page
> table". I don't have a better suggestion other than having:

Hmmm. I meant for it to read "allocate a page table and get its address."

> 	pgtable_alloc()
> 
> that returns a page table pointer, a void*, and:

Initially, I intended to name it pgtable_alloc() & pgtable_free(). I saw
arm using pgtable_alloc() and powerpc using pgtable_free(), so I looked
for another name.

> 	ptdesc_alloc()
> 
> which returns a ptdesc*. But I suspect that would get confusing at the
> point that ptdescs _themselves_ start getting allocated.

The ptdesc_alloc() equivalent right now is named pagetable_alloc(), so I
don't think it'd get confusing.