atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

✨ atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed ✨

okay so welcome to the Kernel API Manual, section 9 — yes bestie, this is a real manual page, and it's from the Kernel API Manual, and today's main character is atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed(9) 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed — atomic decrement with relaxed ordering 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed (atomic_t *v );

🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

  • v — pointer to atomic_t. that's it. that's the whole argument. she's a pointer to an atomic_t and she knows it 👑

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

ok so listen. atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed atomically updates v to (v - 1) with relaxed ordering. it just... does the decrement, all at once, no half-steps, no drama, no race conditions crashing your vibe. the ordering is relaxed, meaning she's not out here putting up memory fences everywhere — lowkey chill about ordering, highkey atomic about the math 🧮✨

⚠️ unsafe to use in noinstr code — use raw_atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed there instead. like, do not bring this one to the noinstr party, she is not on the list 🙈 fr fr

👑 RETURN 👑

she gives you back the original value of v — the value from before the decrement, bestie. iconic behavior honestly 💀

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

first up, the source of truth, the lore drop: kernel file ./include/linux/atomic/atomic-instrumented.h 🫶

ok now the extended family. it's a big family. like a really big family. grab a snack 🍓

💜 the atomic_* girlies

🎀 the atomic64_* crew

🧚 the atomic_long_* squad

and that's the whole page bestie, no skips, no cuts, we ate and left no crumbs 🍽️✨

sign-off time 🫶 this one came from ./include/linux/atomic, dated October 2026, and it's filed under atomic_fetch_dec_relaxed(9) — mwah, bye 💋🎀

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