[snip]
> - functions reading the page do a page_get -- but there is no page_put,
> instead they call the un-understandable page_cache_release.
>
> Below in the snippet from generic_page read, the normal path does:
>
> get_page(page)
> if all is well copy the data from the page
> page_cache_release(page)
>
> But the latter is in fact __free_page(page) which is defined in
> page_alloc.c and is very appropriately labeled as "You really aren't
> expected to understand this".
>
> - What does that function do with the page?
> - Who sets back the page count, which was increased by get_page?
> - How can I operate with pages in a file system?
yeah, that is somewhat silly. it should have been put_page(page) rather
than page_cache_release(page) if only for clarity. anyway, put_page
is also #defined to be __free_page.
it's __free_page which decrements the page count. if the count drops to zero,
then __free_page really frees the page i.e. puts it back into the free page
list, merging with buddy if possible, etc.
ganesh
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