Re: [PATCH v5] Documentation/mm: Initial page table documentation

[Linus Walleij <linus.walleij@linaro.org>]

On Sun, Jun 18, 2023 at 3:16 PM Fabio M. De Francesco
<fmdefrancesco@gmail.com> wrote:

> I am writing to express my dissent regarding the proposal to add basic
> information about the role of hierarchical (multi-level) page tables in
> mapping virtual memory to physical page frames.

I have understood that some think this, perhaps the intro could use
some dieting, what about sending a patch to make it look like you
want it to?

> The proposed addition appears to be a combination of trivia and a basic
> Operating Systems I course that one might encounter during their second year
> as an undergraduate student studying Computer Science or Computer Engineering.
>
> AFAIK, these concepts are already taught extensively to individuals pursuing a
> B.Sc. degree in Computer Science or a related field, both in Italy, where I
> live, and elsewhere.

Knowing the audience is always the hard part of wording technical
documentation, not the contents per se. I might fail, I might be slight off,
my co-developers are there to help.

Assuming that newcomers to the Linux kernel have formal academic
background or specifically operating system education is a bit thick
IMO, suffice to read pages 108-111 of Glyn Moody's book
"Rebel Code" about the background of the network maintainer.
There are a whole bunch of random people attracted to Linux
development.

Memory management may be different though? Mel having written
his PhD thesis about the Linux VMM and all might set the bar higher
for contributors. I don't know really. But the documentation is not there
just for the MM contributors, as the MM primitives are found sprinkled
all over the kernel.

Yours,
Linus Walleij