linux-kernel - any remaining value to EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL{,

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Date:	Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:29:18 -0400 (EDT)
From:	"Robert P. J. Day" <rpjday@...shcourse.ca>
To:	Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: any remaining value to EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL{,_GPL} macros?


  i asked this on the kernel newbies list since it seemed fairly
trivial but perhaps it's better to ask it here.  is there any value to
hanging onto those two macro definitions given this from
Documentation/feature-removal-schedule.txt:

What:   Unused EXPORT_SYMBOL/EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL exports
        (temporary transition config option provided until then)
        The transition config option will also be removed at the same time.
When:   before 2.6.19
Why:    Unused symbols are both increasing the size of the kernel binary
        and are often a sign of "wrong API"
Who:    Arjan van de Ven <arjan@...ux.intel.com>

  and that a scan of the entire source tree reveals:

$ grep -r EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL *
fs/libfs.c:EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL(simple_prepare_write);
include/linux/module.h:#define EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL(sym) __EXPORT_SYMBOL(sym, "_unused")
include/linux/module.h:#define EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL_GPL(sym) __EXPORT_SYMBOL(sym, "_unused_gpl")
include/linux/module.h:#define EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL(sym)
include/linux/module.h:#define EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL_GPL(sym)
include/linux/module.h:#define EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL(sym)
include/linux/module.h:#define EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL_GPL(sym)
scripts/checkpatch.pl:		    ($line =~ /EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL.*\((.*)\)/)) {
scripts/mod/modpost.c:	{ .str = "EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL",     .export = export_unused },
scripts/mod/modpost.c:	{ .str = "EXPORT_UNUSED_SYMBOL_GPL", .export = export_unused_gpl },

  in short, one actual usage in fs/libfs.c, and a bunch of other
references that contribute nothing to their value.

  thoughts?  if these macros have been deprecated for a while, why not
just dump that final usage and get rid of them?

rday
--

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

        Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
"Kernel Newbie Corner" column @ linux.com:          http://cli.gs/WG6WYX
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