Re: [PATCH] epoll: try to be a _bit_ better about file lifetimes

[Christian Brauner]

On Sat, May 04, 2024 at 12:39:00AM +0100, Al Viro wrote:
> On Fri, May 03, 2024 at 04:16:15PM -0700, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> > On Fri, 3 May 2024 at 15:07, Al Viro <viro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > >
> > > Suppose your program calls select() on a pipe and dmabuf, sees data to be read
> > > from pipe, reads it, closes both pipe and dmabuf and exits.
> > >
> > > Would you expect that dmabuf file would stick around for hell knows how long
> > > after that?  I would certainly be very surprised by running into that...
> > 
> > Why?
> > 
> > That's the _point_ of refcounts. They make the thing they refcount
> > stay around until it's no longer referenced.
> > 
> > Now, I agree that dmabuf's are a bit odd in how they use a 'struct
> > file' *as* their refcount, but hey, it's a specialty use. Unusual
> > perhaps, but not exactly wrong.
> > 
> > I suspect that if you saw a dmabuf just have its own 'refcount_t' and
> > stay around until it was done, you wouldn't bat an eye at it, and it's
> > really just the "it uses a struct file for counting" that you are
> > reacting to.
> 
> *IF* those files are on purely internal filesystem, that's probably
> OK; do that with something on something mountable (char device,
> sysfs file, etc.) and you have a problem with filesystem staying
> busy.

In this instance it is ok because dma-buf is an internal fs. I had the
exact same reaction you had initially but it doesn't matter for dma-buf
afaict as that thing can never be unmounted.