Re: [PATCH v2] dma-buf/dma-fence: Mark two callbacks as deprecated

From: Christian König

Date: Tue Oct 13 2026 - 02:50:20 EST


On 10/12/26 19:19, Philipp Stanner wrote:
> dma_fence's backend_ops functions ops->wait() and ops->release() are
> problematic because they prevent fence producers from unloading.
> Moreover, they can easily be implemented through simpler means more
> aligned with the dma_fence contract.
>
> Since the declared goal of dma_fence is to move towards an
> implementation that supports driver-unload in all circumstances, we must
> prevent more parties from implementing those callbacks.
>
> Deprecate ops->release() and ops->wait() and document what users should
> do instead.
>
> Signed-off-by: Philipp Stanner <phasta@xxxxxxxxxx>

Reviewed-by: Christian König <christian.koenig@xxxxxxx>

Going to push it to drm-misc-next later today.

> ---
> Changes in v2:
> - Drop confusing sentence (Christian).
> ---
> include/linux/dma-fence.h | 10 ++++++++++
> 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/dma-fence.h b/include/linux/dma-fence.h
> index dd07d128adc3..388c07d11e70 100644
> --- a/include/linux/dma-fence.h
> +++ b/include/linux/dma-fence.h
> @@ -220,6 +220,8 @@ struct dma_fence_ops {
> /**
> * @wait:
> *
> + * DEPRECATED!
> + *
> * Custom wait implementation, defaults to dma_fence_default_wait() if
> * not set.
> *
> @@ -243,6 +245,8 @@ struct dma_fence_ops {
> /**
> * @release:
> *
> + * DEPRECATED!
> + *
> * Called on destruction of fence to release additional resources.
> * Can be called from irq context. This callback is optional. If it is
> * NULL, then dma_fence_free() is instead called as the default
> @@ -254,6 +258,12 @@ struct dma_fence_ops {
> *
> * If the callback is implemented the memory backing the dma_fence
> * object must be freed RCU safe.
> + *
> + * Deprecated because it prevents the producer of a fence from
> + * unloading. No new users must be implemented. Parties with a
> + * hypothetical need for this callback can instead simply and directly
> + * perform their custom release operations one RCU grace period after
> + * they have signaled the fence.
> */
> void (*release)(struct dma_fence *fence);
>
>
> base-commit: 3e32932d3626d0279f9b3531bd648f8c0a16cb08