[PATCH] drm: Replace kref with a simple atomic reference count

[Daniel Vetter]

On Sun, Nov 28, 2010 at 01:32:27PM +0100, Thomas Hellstrom wrote:
> This is racy, in that the kref_get() can hit a zero refcount. I
> think an ideal thing here would be to add a kref_get_unless_zero()
> for this situation, that returns an error if the refcount was indeed
> zero. I don't think that would violate the kref idea, since we still
> never increase the refcount of a zeroed object, and the user needs
> to provide the necessary synchronization to make sure the object
> isn't gone while still the refcount is zero.

I've got curious rechecked the code and it all looks sane. The trick is
that all the userspace-visible names hold a ref to the underlying gem
object (including the flink name). If all userspace handles are destroyed
(save the flink name) the flink name gets destroyed, too (see
obj->handle_count). All this is independently protected with spinlocks
and it happens _before_ dropping the ref to the underlying bo (and taking
any necessary locks to do so). I don't see any races nor locking problems,
there.
-Daniel
-- 
Daniel Vetter
Mail: daniel at ffwll.ch
Mobile: +41 (0)79 365 57 48