Re: aio_read2() and aio_write2()

From: Vinícius_dos_Santos_Oliveira <vini.ipsmaker_at_gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2024 16:23:02 UTC
Do any objections remain for the patch?

The workarounds mentioned previously don't work for me (CAP_SEEK
required, but I don't control the file descriptors received through
SCM_RIGHTS).

Em dom., 14 de jan. de 2024 às 16:06, Vinícius dos Santos Oliveira
<vini.ipsmaker@gmail.com> escreveu:
>
> Em dom., 14 de jan. de 2024 às 15:23, Alan Somers
> <asomers@freebsd.org> escreveu:
> > I think you're using the term "green threading" too broadly.  Golang
> > uses green threads, but Rust does not.  The difference is that in Rust
> > with async/await, the task-switching boundaries are explicit (the
> > .await syntax).  So Rust uses explicit concurrency, not green
> > threading.  I can't speak to the other languages you mention.
>
> Still, we might have async IO if the implementation permits.
>
> > You propose an extension that would essentially create asynchronous
> > (and racy) versions of read, write, readv, and writev .  But what
> > about copy_file_range and fspacectl?  Or for that matter all the
> > dozens of control-path syscalls like open, stat, chmod, and truncate?
>
> They would block the thread, obviously. Look, I've been playing with
> async IO for most of my career. I'm not asking for exoteric APIs. I
> just want a non-blocking version for read(). What's so hard about
> that? From what I understand from FreeBSD source code, I can already
> "unofficially" do that (offset is ignored if the concrete type is not
> a real file).
>
> Very very few OSes actually implement async versions for anything
> beyond the typical read()/write(). Even open() could block. For
> anything beyond read()/write(), you just create a thread and live with
> that. From a userspace perspective, it's expected that filesystem
> operations such as file-move, directory-listing, etc will block the
> thread. It's already expected. However you don't expect that for the
> basic read()/write().
>
> Again: Linux and Windows already allow that and it works fine on them.
>
> And again: I ask why FreeBSD is special here. I've been answering your
> questions, but you've been avoiding my question every time. Why is
> FreeBSD special here? Linux and Windows work just fine with this
> design. Why suddenly does it become special for FreeBSD? It's the very
> same application.
>
> > This flag that you propose is not a panacea that will eliminate all
> > blocking file operations.  There will still be a need for things that
> > block.  Rust (via the Tokio library) still uses a thread pool for such
> > things.  It even uses the thread pool for the equivalent of read() and
> > write() (but not pread and pwrite).
>
> Nothing new here. I use thread pools to perform DNS queries. I allow
> my user to create threads to perform blocking filesystem operations
> (move, directory listing, etc). I know what I'm asking for: a read()
> that won't block. I'm not asking for a competitor to io_uring. I'm
> just asking for a read() that will never block my thread.
>
> > My point is that if you want fully asynchronous file I/O that never
> > blocks you can't achieve that by adding one additional flag to POSIX
> > AIO.
>
> It's just a read() that won't block the thread. Easy.
>
> Do you have concrete points for the design? What does it need to
> change in the design so it becomes acceptable to you? What are the
> criterias? If the implementation fulfills all these points, will it be
> acceptable for you?
>
> > Instead, all operations would
> > either specify the offset (as with pwrite, pread) or operate only at
> > EoF as if O_APPEND were used.
>
> I strongly disagree here. Async APIs should just achieve the same
> semantics one *already* has when it creates threads and performs
> blocking calls. Do *not* create new semantics. The initial patch
> follows this principle. Your proposal does not.
>
>
> --
> Vinícius dos Santos Oliveira
> https://vinipsmaker.github.io/



-- 
Vinícius dos Santos Oliveira
https://vinipsmaker.github.io/