linux-kernel - Re: Frontswap [PATCH 0/4] (was Transcendent Memory): overview

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Message-ID: <20100427125502.GA3681@ucw.cz>
Date:	Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:55:03 +0200
From:	Pavel Machek <pavel@....cz>
To:	Dan Magenheimer <dan.magenheimer@...cle.com>
Cc:	Avi Kivity <avi@...hat.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-mm@...ck.org, jeremy@...p.org, hugh.dickins@...cali.co.uk,
	ngupta@...are.org, JBeulich@...ell.com, chris.mason@...cle.com,
	kurt.hackel@...cle.com, dave.mccracken@...cle.com, npiggin@...e.de,
	akpm@...ux-foundation.org, riel@...hat.com
Subject: Re: Frontswap [PATCH 0/4] (was Transcendent Memory): overview

Hi!

> > Can we extend it?  Adding new APIs is easy, but harder to maintain in
> > the long term.
> 
> Umm... I think the difference between a "new" API and extending
> an existing one here is a choice of semantics.  As designed, frontswap
> is an extremely simple, only-very-slightly-intrusive set of hooks that
> allows swap pages to, under some conditions, go to pseudo-RAM instead
...
> "Extending" the existing swap API, which has largely been untouched for
> many years, seems like a significantly more complex and error-prone
> undertaking that will affect nearly all Linux users with a likely long
> bug tail.  And, by the way, there is no existence proof that it
> will be useful.

> Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Stop right here. Instead of improving existing swap api, you just
create one because it is less work.

We do not want apis to cummulate; please just fix the existing one.
									Pavel
-- 
(english) http://www.livejournal.com/~pavelmachek
(cesky, pictures) http://atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~pavel/picture/horses/blog.html
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