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-rw-r--r--Documentation/00-INDEX6
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX4
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/locks.txt (renamed from Documentation/locks.txt)10
-rw-r--r--Documentation/filesystems/mandatory-locking.txt (renamed from Documentation/mandatory.txt)21
4 files changed, 30 insertions, 11 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/00-INDEX b/Documentation/00-INDEX
index 43e89b1..cc10ce7 100644
--- a/Documentation/00-INDEX
+++ b/Documentation/00-INDEX
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ fb/
feature-removal-schedule.txt
- list of files and features that are going to be removed.
filesystems/
- - directory with info on the various filesystems that Linux supports.
+ - info on the vfs and the various filesystems that Linux supports.
firmware_class/
- request_firmware() hotplug interface info.
floppy.txt
@@ -230,8 +230,6 @@ local_ops.txt
- semantics and behavior of local atomic operations.
lockdep-design.txt
- documentation on the runtime locking correctness validator.
-locks.txt
- - info on file locking implementations, flock() vs. fcntl(), etc.
logo.gif
- full colour GIF image of Linux logo (penguin - Tux).
logo.txt
@@ -240,8 +238,6 @@ m68k/
- directory with info about Linux on Motorola 68k architecture.
magic-number.txt
- list of magic numbers used to mark/protect kernel data structures.
-mandatory.txt
- - info on the Linux implementation of Sys V mandatory file locking.
mca.txt
- info on supporting Micro Channel Architecture (e.g. PS/2) systems.
md.txt
diff --git a/Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX b/Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX
index 59db1bc..599593a 100644
--- a/Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/00-INDEX
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ isofs.txt
- info and mount options for the ISO 9660 (CDROM) filesystem.
jfs.txt
- info and mount options for the JFS filesystem.
+locks.txt
+ - info on file locking implementations, flock() vs. fcntl(), etc.
+mandatory-locking.txt
+ - info on the Linux implementation of Sys V mandatory file locking.
ncpfs.txt
- info on Novell Netware(tm) filesystem using NCP protocol.
ntfs.txt
diff --git a/Documentation/locks.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/locks.txt
index e3b402e..fab857a 100644
--- a/Documentation/locks.txt
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/locks.txt
@@ -53,11 +53,11 @@ fcntl(), with all the problems that implies.
1.3 Mandatory Locking As A Mount Option
---------------------------------------
-Mandatory locking, as described in 'Documentation/mandatory.txt' was prior
-to this release a general configuration option that was valid for all
-mounted filesystems. This had a number of inherent dangers, not the least
-of which was the ability to freeze an NFS server by asking it to read a
-file for which a mandatory lock existed.
+Mandatory locking, as described in 'Documentation/filesystems/mandatory.txt'
+was prior to this release a general configuration option that was valid for
+all mounted filesystems. This had a number of inherent dangers, not the
+least of which was the ability to freeze an NFS server by asking it to read
+a file for which a mandatory lock existed.
From this release of the kernel, mandatory locking can be turned on and off
on a per-filesystem basis, using the mount options 'mand' and 'nomand'.
diff --git a/Documentation/mandatory.txt b/Documentation/filesystems/mandatory-locking.txt
index bc449d4..0979d1d 100644
--- a/Documentation/mandatory.txt
+++ b/Documentation/filesystems/mandatory-locking.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,26 @@
Andy Walker <andy@lysaker.kvaerner.no>
15 April 1996
-
+ (Updated September 2007)
+
+0. Why you should avoid mandatory locking
+-----------------------------------------
+
+The Linux implementation is prey to a number of difficult-to-fix race
+conditions which in practice make it not dependable:
+
+ - The write system call checks for a mandatory lock only once
+ at its start. It is therefore possible for a lock request to
+ be granted after this check but before the data is modified.
+ A process may then see file data change even while a mandatory
+ lock was held.
+ - Similarly, an exclusive lock may be granted on a file after
+ the kernel has decided to proceed with a read, but before the
+ read has actually completed, and the reading process may see
+ the file data in a state which should not have been visible
+ to it.
+ - Similar races make the claimed mutual exclusion between lock
+ and mmap similarly unreliable.
1. What is mandatory locking?
------------------------------
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