padata_free(9)

💖 padata_free(9) 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual — this one's padata_free, and it's giving tiny-but-iconic. three sections, zero fluff, we love a low-effort slay ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

padata_free — free a padata instance. that's it. that's the whole vibe. it frees the thing. periodt 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

void padata_free (struct padata_instance *pinst );

^^ literally the entire call. no return value (void, so don't go looking for one, she doesn't do that 🙈), just hand her the pointer and she's done.

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• pinst — the padata instance to free 🫶. like, the actual struct padata_instance * you want gone. that's the whole assignment. no cap.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

so if you wanna do the full lore deep-dive, the kernel file ./kernel/padata.c is right there, and the whole friend group is:

• padata_do_parallel(9)
• padata_do_serial(9)
• padata_do_multithreaded(9)
• padata_set_cpumask(9)
• padata_alloc(9)
• padata_alloc_shell(9)
• padata_free_shell(9)

like, padata_alloc(9) is the one that makes the instance and padata_free is the one that lets it go — the circle of life, iykyk 🌈. and yeah, padata_free_shell(9) is a whole different bestie, don't mix them up 💀.

fr fr reminder: this page came out of ./kernel back in October 2026, and it's the padata_free(9) entry in the Kernel API Manual. mwah, go free your instances responsibly 💜🧚‍♀️