linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 11/18] lib/stackdepot: rename slab variables

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Date:   Tue, 31 Jan 2023 20:05:56 +0100
From:   Andrey Konovalov <andreyknvl@...il.com>
To:     Alexander Potapenko <glider@...gle.com>
Cc:     andrey.konovalov@...ux.dev, Marco Elver <elver@...gle.com>,
        Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@...e.cz>, kasan-dev@...glegroups.com,
        Evgenii Stepanov <eugenis@...gle.com>,
        Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>, linux-mm@...ck.org,
        linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        Andrey Konovalov <andreyknvl@...gle.com>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 11/18] lib/stackdepot: rename slab variables

On Tue, Jan 31, 2023 at 12:59 PM Alexander Potapenko <glider@...gle.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Jan 30, 2023 at 9:50 PM <andrey.konovalov@...ux.dev> wrote:
> >
> > From: Andrey Konovalov <andreyknvl@...gle.com>
> >
> > Give better names to slab-related global variables: change "depot_"
> > prefix to "slab_" to point out that these variables are related to
> > stack depot slabs.
>
> I started asking myself if the word "slab" is applicable here at all.
> The concept of preallocating big chunks of memory to amortize the
> costs belongs to the original slab allocator, but "slab" has a special
> meaning in Linux, and we might be confusing people by using it in a
> different sense.
> What do you think?

Yes, I agree that using this word is a bit confusing.

Not sure what be a good alternative though. "Region", "block",
"collection", and "chunk" come to mind, but they don't reflect the
purpose/usage of these allocations as good as "slab". Although it's
possible that my perception as affected by overly frequently looking
at the slab allocator internals :)

Do you have a suggestion of a better word?