raw_atomic_..._sub_release(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 raw_atomic_..._sub_release(9) 💅

okay so bestie, welcome to the Kernel API Manual — yes we're literally in the kernel docs rn, and this page is called raw_atomic_..._sub_release(9) and honestly? it's giving niche but essential. buckle up 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

raw_atomic_long_fetch_sub_release — atomic subtract, but make it release ordering 💫

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

long raw_atomic_long_fetch_sub_release (long i , atomic_long_t *v );

✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

  • i — a long value, and it's the amount you're subtracting. the subtraction victim, if you will 🫶
  • v — a pointer to an atomic_long_t. this is the actual atomic bestie getting updated 👑

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so what it does, no cap: it atomically updates v to (v - i), and it does it with release ordering. atomically means nobody sneaks in halfway, okay? the whole subtract-slash-update is one indivisible moment. iconic behavior honestly 💅

it's safe to use in noinstr code — like, that's literally its whole niche. everywhere else though? prefer atomic_long_fetch_sub_release, bestie. that's the general-purpose one. this raw version is the specialist 🧚

✨ RETURN ✨

it hands you back the original value of v — i.e. what v was before your subtraction happened. so you get the before-pic, and v keeps the after-pic 📸

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

first up, the source of truth, the origin story:

  • Kernel file ./include/linux/atomic/atomic-long.h

and now the whole friend group 😭 literally everyone:

🦋 the reads

🦋 the sets

🦋 the adds

🦋 the subs (our literal family)

🦋 the incs

🦋 the decs

🦋 the bitwise girlies

🦋 the exchanges

🦋 the compare-and-swap squad

🦋 the tests

🦋 the conditional cuties

fr fr go read those if you wanna understand the whole atomic-long cinematic universe. this page is one star in a very big, very shiny constellation ⭐

and that's the whole page babes 💖 it lives in ./include/linux/atomic, it's from October 2026, and it's part of the Kernel API Manual. go forth and subtract atomically, you absolute main character 👑✨

📦 where this page comes from