From: Arnd Bergmann > Sent: 20 January 2022 11:52 .. > As with compat_flock, the packed attribute has no impact on the layout > here, but please drop it anyway for consistency. Never mind the structure layout, because 'packed' allows the structure to be aligned on any boundary it forces the compiler to use byte memory accesses and shifts on some architectures. This is a horrid performance penalty. 'packed' should only be specified for structures that can occur on any address boundary. ie basically never. If you need to remove the implicit pad before a field (eg 64bit fields on x64-32) then you can mark the field itself as 'packed'. Although, in that case, putting the attribute on the type (compat_s64) is generally cleaner. David - Registered Address Lakeside, Bramley Road, Mount Farm, Milton Keynes, MK1 1PT, UK Registration No: 1397386 (Wales)
