[PATCH 0/4] Re-export Zeroable and zeroed() from ffi module

Alice Ryhl posted 4 patches 1 week, 5 days ago
rust/Makefile          | 9 ++++++---
rust/ffi.rs            | 7 +++++++
rust/kernel/acpi.rs    | 2 +-
rust/kernel/cpufreq.rs | 2 +-
rust/kernel/i2c.rs     | 4 ++--
5 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
[PATCH 0/4] Re-export Zeroable and zeroed() from ffi module
Posted by Alice Ryhl 1 week, 5 days ago
Currently, the Zeroable trait is defined by pin-init because pin-init
happens to use the trait. However, zeroed types are useful for many
purposes other than pin-init. Also, we wish to implement Zeroable for
types generated by bindgen. For both of these reasons, re-export
Zeroable from the ffi crate, which is a already dependency of the crates
with bindgen output.

Signed-off-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
---
Alice Ryhl (4):
      rust: ffi: reexport Zeroable and related items
      rust: cpufreq: import pin_init::zeroed() from ffi
      rust: i2c: import pin_init::zeroed() from ffi
      rust: acpi: import pin_init::zeroed() from ffi

 rust/Makefile          | 9 ++++++---
 rust/ffi.rs            | 7 +++++++
 rust/kernel/acpi.rs    | 2 +-
 rust/kernel/cpufreq.rs | 2 +-
 rust/kernel/i2c.rs     | 4 ++--
 5 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
---
base-commit: 8f0b4cce4481fb22653697cced8d0d04027cb1e8
change-id: 20251202-zeroable-ffi-2beb542376c3

Best regards,
-- 
Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
Re: [PATCH 0/4] Re-export Zeroable and zeroed() from ffi module
Posted by Gary Guo 1 week, 5 days ago
On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 1:05 PM GMT, Alice Ryhl wrote:
> Currently, the Zeroable trait is defined by pin-init because pin-init
> happens to use the trait. However, zeroed types are useful for many
> purposes other than pin-init. Also, we wish to implement Zeroable for
> types generated by bindgen. For both of these reasons, re-export
> Zeroable from the ffi crate, which is a already dependency of the crates
> with bindgen output.

I don't see a benefit of re-exporting these from the `ffi` crate? Especially
that we re-export `ffi` crate from kernel crate anyway, and `Zeroable` is
already in the kernel prelude.

We already derive `Zeroable` for bindgen via `MaybeZeroable` derive in
rust/bindgen_parameters.

Best,
Gary

>
> Signed-off-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
> ---
> Alice Ryhl (4):
>       rust: ffi: reexport Zeroable and related items
>       rust: cpufreq: import pin_init::zeroed() from ffi
>       rust: i2c: import pin_init::zeroed() from ffi
>       rust: acpi: import pin_init::zeroed() from ffi
>
>  rust/Makefile          | 9 ++++++---
>  rust/ffi.rs            | 7 +++++++
>  rust/kernel/acpi.rs    | 2 +-
>  rust/kernel/cpufreq.rs | 2 +-
>  rust/kernel/i2c.rs     | 4 ++--
>  5 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
> ---
> base-commit: 8f0b4cce4481fb22653697cced8d0d04027cb1e8
> change-id: 20251202-zeroable-ffi-2beb542376c3
>
> Best regards,
Re: [PATCH 0/4] Re-export Zeroable and zeroed() from ffi module
Posted by Alice Ryhl 1 week, 5 days ago
On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 01:15:53PM +0000, Gary Guo wrote:
> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 1:05 PM GMT, Alice Ryhl wrote:
> > Currently, the Zeroable trait is defined by pin-init because pin-init
> > happens to use the trait. However, zeroed types are useful for many
> > purposes other than pin-init. Also, we wish to implement Zeroable for
> > types generated by bindgen. For both of these reasons, re-export
> > Zeroable from the ffi crate, which is a already dependency of the crates
> > with bindgen output.
> 
> I don't see a benefit of re-exporting these from the `ffi` crate? Especially
> that we re-export `ffi` crate from kernel crate anyway, and `Zeroable` is
> already in the kernel prelude.
> 
> We already derive `Zeroable` for bindgen via `MaybeZeroable` derive in
> rust/bindgen_parameters.

I can't find the convo now, but this change is on my list from when we
discussed also implementing FromBytes / IntoBytes for the bindings
types. To do that, we need to move our FromBytes / IntoBytes traits
somewhere that bindings/uapi can access, and we agreed that the ffi
crate was a good place for it.

And then for consistency, also reexport Zeroable from the same location.

Alice
Re: [PATCH 0/4] Re-export Zeroable and zeroed() from ffi module
Posted by Benno Lossin 1 week, 5 days ago
On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 2:25 PM CET, Alice Ryhl wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 01:15:53PM +0000, Gary Guo wrote:
>> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 1:05 PM GMT, Alice Ryhl wrote:
>> > Currently, the Zeroable trait is defined by pin-init because pin-init
>> > happens to use the trait. However, zeroed types are useful for many
>> > purposes other than pin-init. Also, we wish to implement Zeroable for
>> > types generated by bindgen. For both of these reasons, re-export
>> > Zeroable from the ffi crate, which is a already dependency of the crates
>> > with bindgen output.
>> 
>> I don't see a benefit of re-exporting these from the `ffi` crate? Especially
>> that we re-export `ffi` crate from kernel crate anyway, and `Zeroable` is
>> already in the kernel prelude.
>> 
>> We already derive `Zeroable` for bindgen via `MaybeZeroable` derive in
>> rust/bindgen_parameters.
>
> I can't find the convo now, but this change is on my list from when we
> discussed also implementing FromBytes / IntoBytes for the bindings
> types. To do that, we need to move our FromBytes / IntoBytes traits
> somewhere that bindings/uapi can access, and we agreed that the ffi
> crate was a good place for it.
>
> And then for consistency, also reexport Zeroable from the same location.

I think you also mentioned at some point that using `pin_init` from
`bindings` seemed strange and also using the `pin_init::zeroed()`
function also doesn't fit, since it doesn't have to do with pinned
initialization.

Cheers,
Benno
Re: [PATCH 0/4] Re-export Zeroable and zeroed() from ffi module
Posted by Gary Guo 1 week, 5 days ago
On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 4:08 PM GMT, Benno Lossin wrote:
> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 2:25 PM CET, Alice Ryhl wrote:
>> On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 01:15:53PM +0000, Gary Guo wrote:
>>> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 1:05 PM GMT, Alice Ryhl wrote:
>>> > Currently, the Zeroable trait is defined by pin-init because pin-init
>>> > happens to use the trait. However, zeroed types are useful for many
>>> > purposes other than pin-init. Also, we wish to implement Zeroable for
>>> > types generated by bindgen. For both of these reasons, re-export
>>> > Zeroable from the ffi crate, which is a already dependency of the crates
>>> > with bindgen output.
>>> 
>>> I don't see a benefit of re-exporting these from the `ffi` crate? Especially
>>> that we re-export `ffi` crate from kernel crate anyway, and `Zeroable` is
>>> already in the kernel prelude.
>>> 
>>> We already derive `Zeroable` for bindgen via `MaybeZeroable` derive in
>>> rust/bindgen_parameters.
>>
>> I can't find the convo now, but this change is on my list from when we
>> discussed also implementing FromBytes / IntoBytes for the bindings
>> types. To do that, we need to move our FromBytes / IntoBytes traits
>> somewhere that bindings/uapi can access, and we agreed that the ffi
>> crate was a good place for it.
>>
>> And then for consistency, also reexport Zeroable from the same location.
>
> I think you also mentioned at some point that using `pin_init` from
> `bindings` seemed strange and also using the `pin_init::zeroed()`
> function also doesn't fit, since it doesn't have to do with pinned
> initialization.

Shouldn't it be that a crate that implements Zeroable / FromBytes / IntoBytes
and then pin_init becoming an user of that crate, then?

Best,
Gary
Re: [PATCH 0/4] Re-export Zeroable and zeroed() from ffi module
Posted by Alice Ryhl 1 week, 5 days ago
On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 5:11 PM Gary Guo <gary@garyguo.net> wrote:
>
> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 4:08 PM GMT, Benno Lossin wrote:
> > On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 2:25 PM CET, Alice Ryhl wrote:
> >> On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 01:15:53PM +0000, Gary Guo wrote:
> >>> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 1:05 PM GMT, Alice Ryhl wrote:
> >>> > Currently, the Zeroable trait is defined by pin-init because pin-init
> >>> > happens to use the trait. However, zeroed types are useful for many
> >>> > purposes other than pin-init. Also, we wish to implement Zeroable for
> >>> > types generated by bindgen. For both of these reasons, re-export
> >>> > Zeroable from the ffi crate, which is a already dependency of the crates
> >>> > with bindgen output.
> >>>
> >>> I don't see a benefit of re-exporting these from the `ffi` crate? Especially
> >>> that we re-export `ffi` crate from kernel crate anyway, and `Zeroable` is
> >>> already in the kernel prelude.
> >>>
> >>> We already derive `Zeroable` for bindgen via `MaybeZeroable` derive in
> >>> rust/bindgen_parameters.
> >>
> >> I can't find the convo now, but this change is on my list from when we
> >> discussed also implementing FromBytes / IntoBytes for the bindings
> >> types. To do that, we need to move our FromBytes / IntoBytes traits
> >> somewhere that bindings/uapi can access, and we agreed that the ffi
> >> crate was a good place for it.
> >>
> >> And then for consistency, also reexport Zeroable from the same location.
> >
> > I think you also mentioned at some point that using `pin_init` from
> > `bindings` seemed strange and also using the `pin_init::zeroed()`
> > function also doesn't fit, since it doesn't have to do with pinned
> > initialization.
>
> Shouldn't it be that a crate that implements Zeroable / FromBytes / IntoBytes
> and then pin_init becoming an user of that crate, then?

The Zeroable trait has to be in pin-init because it's also outside the
kernel. You *could* add yet another crate just for this and let
pin-init depend on it, but just putting it in the existing ffi seems
reasonable to me, and ffi is not a bad name for the owner of those
traits anyway.

Though I guess if we add zerocopy, that concern goes away.

Alice
Re: [PATCH 0/4] Re-export Zeroable and zeroed() from ffi module
Posted by Benno Lossin 1 week, 4 days ago
On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 5:14 PM CET, Alice Ryhl wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 5:11 PM Gary Guo <gary@garyguo.net> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 4:08 PM GMT, Benno Lossin wrote:
>> > On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 2:25 PM CET, Alice Ryhl wrote:
>> >> On Mon, Jan 26, 2026 at 01:15:53PM +0000, Gary Guo wrote:
>> >>> On Mon Jan 26, 2026 at 1:05 PM GMT, Alice Ryhl wrote:
>> >>> > Currently, the Zeroable trait is defined by pin-init because pin-init
>> >>> > happens to use the trait. However, zeroed types are useful for many
>> >>> > purposes other than pin-init. Also, we wish to implement Zeroable for
>> >>> > types generated by bindgen. For both of these reasons, re-export
>> >>> > Zeroable from the ffi crate, which is a already dependency of the crates
>> >>> > with bindgen output.
>> >>>
>> >>> I don't see a benefit of re-exporting these from the `ffi` crate? Especially
>> >>> that we re-export `ffi` crate from kernel crate anyway, and `Zeroable` is
>> >>> already in the kernel prelude.
>> >>>
>> >>> We already derive `Zeroable` for bindgen via `MaybeZeroable` derive in
>> >>> rust/bindgen_parameters.
>> >>
>> >> I can't find the convo now, but this change is on my list from when we
>> >> discussed also implementing FromBytes / IntoBytes for the bindings
>> >> types. To do that, we need to move our FromBytes / IntoBytes traits
>> >> somewhere that bindings/uapi can access, and we agreed that the ffi
>> >> crate was a good place for it.
>> >>
>> >> And then for consistency, also reexport Zeroable from the same location.
>> >
>> > I think you also mentioned at some point that using `pin_init` from
>> > `bindings` seemed strange and also using the `pin_init::zeroed()`
>> > function also doesn't fit, since it doesn't have to do with pinned
>> > initialization.
>>
>> Shouldn't it be that a crate that implements Zeroable / FromBytes / IntoBytes
>> and then pin_init becoming an user of that crate, then?

I think that's a little bit too much effort just for "nice naming".

> The Zeroable trait has to be in pin-init because it's also outside the
> kernel. You *could* add yet another crate just for this and let
> pin-init depend on it, but just putting it in the existing ffi seems
> reasonable to me, and ffi is not a bad name for the owner of those
> traits anyway.
>
> Though I guess if we add zerocopy, that concern goes away.

Indeed, I would just move pin-init to that.

Cheers,
Benno