raw_atomic64...ess_negative(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

🌸 raw_atomic64...ess_negative(9) — Kernel API Manual, bestie edition 💅

okay so this is a page straight out of the Kernel API Manual, and the title got a little ✨truncated✨ on the way in — the header literally reads raw_atomic64...ess_negative(9) up top, which is giving "name too long for the man page column, so we did a little snip snip". Iconic behavior honestly. Anyway, it's the man page for raw_atomic64_inc_unless_negative, and she is so much more chill than she sounds 🫶

🦋 NAME

raw_atomic64_inc_unless_negative — atomic increment unless negative, with full ordering. That's the whole vibe: bump the number, but only if it's not already in the negatives. Manifesting the +1 ✨

🎀 SYNOPSIS

bool raw_atomic64_inc_unless_negative (atomic64_t *v );

that's it. one function, one pointer, one bool coming back to you. lowkey elegant 💖

🧚 ARGUMENTS

  • v — pointer to an atomic64_t. like, that's your little number box. hand her over, she knows what to do 🌸

⭐ DESCRIPTION

So here's the tea, bestie: if (v >= 0), she atomically updates v to (v + 1) with full ordering. Full ordering, no cap — that's the strong memory-barrier energy 🔥

Otherwise — meaning if v is negative — v is not modified at all, and relaxed ordering is provided. She looks at it, goes "nope, not today", and does nothing. Respect. 💅

also super important: it's safe to use in noinstr code — that's literally her whole thing. But everywhere else? Prefer atomic64_inc_unless_negative. She's the specialist, not the default. iykyk 🧚‍♀️

👑 RETURN

  • true — v was updated (she said yes 💖)
  • false — v was not updated (she said no 🙈)

🌈 SEE ALSO

okay so the source file for all this lives right here:

  • ./include/linux/atomic/atomic-arch-fallback.h in the kernel tree

and then there's the entire friend group — every single one of these is a real reference, and yes I'm listing all of them, because we don't gatekeep on this blog 👑

the 32-bit raw_atomic_* babes ✨

and the 64-bit raw_atomic64_* main characters 👑

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 💖 this one came from the source path ./include/linux/atomic and it's dated October 2026 — so mark your calendar, she's a Scorpio I guess 🦋✨ mwah, go forth and increment responsibly 🫶👑

📦 where this page comes from