linux-kernel - [PATCH tip/core/rcu 5/8] doc: Update RCU requirements RCU_INIT

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Date:   Tue,  5 Jan 2021 16:54:04 -0800
From:   paulmck@...nel.org
To:     rcu@...r.kernel.org
Cc:     linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, kernel-team@...com, mingo@...nel.org,
        jiangshanlai@...il.com, akpm@...ux-foundation.org,
        mathieu.desnoyers@...icios.com, josh@...htriplett.org,
        tglx@...utronix.de, peterz@...radead.org, rostedt@...dmis.org,
        dhowells@...hat.com, edumazet@...gle.com, fweisbec@...il.com,
        oleg@...hat.com, joel@...lfernandes.org,
        "Paul E. McKenney" <paulmck@...nel.org>
Subject: [PATCH tip/core/rcu 5/8] doc: Update RCU requirements RCU_INIT_POINTER() description

From: "Paul E. McKenney" <paulmck@...nel.org>

Back in the day, RCU_INIT_POINTER() was the only way to avoid
memory-barrier instructions while storing NULL to an RCU-protected
pointer.  Fortunately, in 2016, rcu_assign_pointer() started checking for
compile-time NULL pointers and omitting the memory-barrier instructions in
that case.  Unfortunately, RCU's Requirements.rst document was not updated
accordingly.  This commit therefore at long last carries out that update.

Fixes: 3a37f7275cda ("rcu: No ordering for rcu_assign_pointer() of NULL")
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20201209230755.GV7338@casper.infradead.org/
Reported-by: Matthew Wilcox <willy@...radead.org>
Acked-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@...nel.org>
---
 Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.rst | 3 +--
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.rst b/Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.rst
index f32f8fa..65c7839 100644
--- a/Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.rst
+++ b/Documentation/RCU/Design/Requirements/Requirements.rst
@@ -1668,8 +1668,7 @@ against mishaps and misuse:
    this purpose.
 #. It is not necessary to use rcu_assign_pointer() when creating
    linked structures that are to be published via a single external
-   pointer. The RCU_INIT_POINTER() macro is provided for this task
-   and also for assigning ``NULL`` pointers at runtime.
+   pointer. The RCU_INIT_POINTER() macro is provided for this task.
 
 This not a hard-and-fast list: RCU's diagnostic capabilities will
 continue to be guided by the number and type of usage bugs found in
-- 
2.9.5