linux-kernel - Re: [patch 0/8] kzfree()

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Date:	Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:59:31 -0800
From:	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
To:	Johannes Weiner <hannes@...xchg.org>
Cc:	Pekka Enberg <penberg@...helsinki.fi>, linux-mm@...ck.org,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [patch 0/8] kzfree()

On Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:29:26 +0100 Johannes Weiner <hannes@...xchg.org> wrote:

> This series introduces kzfree() and converts callsites which do
> memset() + kfree() explicitely.

I dunno, this looks like putting lipstick on a pig.

What is the point in zeroing memory just before freeing it?  afacit
this is always done as a poor-man's poisoning operation.

But the slab allocators _already_ do poisoning, and they do it better. 
And they do it configurably, whereas those sites you've been looking at
are permanently slowing the kernel down.

So I would cheerily merge and push patches titled "remove pointless
memset before kfree".

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