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SubjectRe: [patch] x86: convert rdtscll() to use __native_read_tsc
Ingo Molnar wrote:
> The reason for the __native_read_tsc() / native_read_tsc() distinction is
> and obscure problem with paravirt function pointers. Such constructs:
>
> ./xen/enlighten.c: .read_tsc = native_read_tsc,
>
> do not always work fine with all versions of gcc, if native_read_tsc() is
> a simple static inline (as it should be) - the build would fail with
> certain gcc flags.

I don't think that's true. We rely on taking function pointers of
static inlines pretty extensively; native_read_tsc is hardly unique in
this respect. I don't remember seeing any problems of the sort you
describe. (I can well believe this may have been a problem at some
point, but not during the pv-ops development timeframe.)

> Perhaps the real fix is to do this rename as well:
>
> native_read_tsc => native_read_tsc_paravirt
> __native_read_tsc => native_read_tsc
>
> as this makes the native_read_tsc_paravirt() a pure technical variant, to
> be used in paravirt_ops function pointer assignments. People would thus
> just use the obvious native_read_tsc() inline function most of the time
> and could forget about native_read_tsc_paravirt().
>
> Jeremy?
>

I'm trying to remember the real reason for
__native_read_tsc/native_read_tsc. At least part of it is that
__native_read_tsc is used in a vdso, and so *must* be inlined to avoid a
bogus call from user to kernel space. But I don't know why you wouldn't
want to inline native_read_tsc everywhere. I have a feeling it may be a
relic from unification - possibly because x86-64 was late to the
clocksource party - but I don't remember anything specific.

I think we can probably make do with a single native_read_tsc, so long
as its always inlined.

J


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