This patch series implements Linus's suggestion of always locking the root anon_vma. Because the lock in other anon_vmas no longer protects anything at all, we cannot do the "lock dance" that Mel's earlier patches implements and instead need a root pointer in the anon_vma. The only subtlety these patches rely on is that the same_vma list is ordered from new to old, with the root anon_vma at the very end. This, together with the forward list walking in unlink_anon_vmas, ensures that the root anon_vma is the last one freed. The KSM refcount adds some additional complexity, because an anon_vma can stick around after the processes it was attached to have already exited. Patch 5/5 deals with that issue. -- To unsubscribe, send a message with 'unsubscribe linux-mm' in the body to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxx For more info on Linux MM, see: http://www.linux-mm.org/ . Don't email: <a href=mailto:"dont@xxxxxxxxx";> email@xxxxxxxxx </a>