Re: question about drivers/isdn/hisax/st5481_init.c

[Julia Lawall]

On Fri, 13 May 2011, Ben Hutchings wrote:

> On Fri, 2011-05-13 at 07:53 +0200, Julia Lawall wrote:
> > The function probe_st5481 allocates an adapter value using kzalloc, adds 
> > it to adapter_list, and then performs various initialization operations, 
> > which may fail.  adapter_list is a static variable that is never otherwise 
> > referenced in the file.  There is a list_del that removes the adapter from 
> > the list in the function disconnect_st5481.  The presence of the adapter 
> > on the list makes it possibly unsafe to free adapter in the failure cases.
> > 
> > Could the list just be removed, if it is not being used anywhere?
> > 
> > Or if the list should be kept because it is useful or it is planned to be 
> > useful in the future, could the insertion into the list be moved to the 
> > end of the function, after the potentially failing operations, so that 
> > adapter can be freed when a failure occurs?
> 
> Some older drivers have these device lists hanging around from before
> the device model has implemented.  If the list isn't being used now then
> it's probably fine to remove.

OK, I'll propose a patch in that direction.  Thanks.

julia
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