ep_poll(9)

💅 ep_poll(9) 💅

okay so real talk, this is a page from the Kernel API Manual, and it's literally the function that pulls your ready events out of the epoll vibe and hands them over to you. bestie, it's giving "here's your stuff, go live your life" 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

ep_poll — retrieves ready events, and delivers them to the caller-supplied event buffer. that's it, that's the whole job. no cap. 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

int ep_poll (struct eventpoll *ep , struct epoll_event __user *events ,
int maxevents , struct timespec64 *timeout );

like. look at her. iconic signature, zero notes. 🔥

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• ep — pointer to the eventpoll context. this is the main character, the whole epoll situation lives in here 👑
• events — pointer to the userspace buffer where the ready events should be stored. this is where the good stuff lands, so pls make sure it's real 💖
• maxevents — size (in terms of number of events) of the caller event buffer. basically "how many events can u even hold rn" — respect the limit or perish 🙈
• timeout — maximum timeout for the ready events fetch operation, in timespec. and here's the tea, because this one has range:
  • if the timeout is zero, the function will not block — she's in, she's out, no waiting around 💅
  • if the timeout ptr is NULL, the function will block until at least one event has been retrieved (or an error occurred). so like. she will literally sit there and wait for you. devoted. 🥺

ngl the NULL timeout case is a whole commitment — it blocks until at least one event shows up or an error happens. no vibes-based early exit, okay?

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

the number of ready events which have been fetched, or an error code, in case of error. so either "here's how many, slay" or "something went wrong, handle it" 💀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• Kernel file ./fs/eventpoll.c
• busy_loop_ep_timeout(9)
• reverse_path_check(9)
• ep_loop_check_proc(9)
• ep_loop_check(9)

go read the friends, they're all in the same friend group fr fr 🧚

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and that's the page, bestie!! brought to you by ./fs, dated October 2026, filed under ep_poll(9) — mwah, study it, love it, cite it 💜✨