STRUCT DRM_GEM_OPEN(9)

✨ struct drm_gem_open(9) ✨

okay so this is a page straight out of the Kernel API Manual, and honestly? it's a little baddie. it's struct drm_gem_open, and it's giving "glow-up for a graphics buffer" energy 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

struct drm_gem_open — bestie, this is literally just the Argument for &DRM_IOCTL_GEM_OPEN ioctl.

like that's it. that's the whole job. it's the lil envelope you hand to the kernel 🎀

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

here's the whole vibe, character for character, no cap:

struct drm_gem_open {
    __u32 name;
    __u32 handle;
    __u64 size;
 };

three fields. immaculate. tiny. perfect. ✨

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💖 Members 💖

• name — the Name of object being opened. you're like "hey kernel, open the one called this" 🫶
• handle — the Returned handle for the object. the kernel hands you back a handle and you're like "slay, thank you" 💅
• size — the Returned size of the object — yep, it tells you how big the thing is too. obsessed. 📏

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👑 Description 👑

okay so the whole plot: you Open an object using the global name, returning a handle and the size. that's the tea ☕

and here's the part that actually matters, lowkey the most important sentence on this page:

this handle (of course) holds a reference to the object, so the object will not go away until the handle is deleted. 🔥

fr fr, do NOT forget to delete your handle — that reference is the only thing keeping the object alive, and if you yeet the handle, the object can absolutely dip out on you 😭 main character energy from the kernel honestly.

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

prepare yourself bestie, this list is long and it ate. everything here is exactly as written, iykyk:

• Kernel file ./tools/perf/trace/beauty/include/uapi/drm/drm.h struct drm_gem_close(9), struct drm_gem_flink(9), struct drm_gem_change_handle(9), DRM_CAP_DUMB_BUFFER(9), DRM_CAP_VBLANK_HIGH_CRTC(9), DRM_CAP_DUMB_PREFERRED_DEPTH(9), DRM_CAP_DUMB_PREFER_SHADOW(9), DRM_CAP_PRIME(9), DRM_PRIME_CAP_IMPORT(9), DRM_PRIME_CAP_EXPORT(9), DRM_CAP_TIMESTAMP_MONOTONIC(9), DRM_CAP_ASYNC_PAGE_FLIP(9), DRM_CAP_CURSOR_WIDTH(9), DRM_CAP_CURSOR_HEIGHT(9), DRM_CAP_ADDFB2_MODIFIERS(9), DRM_CAP_PAGE_FLIP_TARGET(9), DRM_CAP_CRTC_IN_VBLANK_EVENT(9), DRM_CAP_SYNCOBJ(9), DRM_CAP_SYNCOBJ_TIMELINE(9), DRM_CAP_ATOMIC_ASYNC_PAGE_FLIP(9), DRM_CLIENT_CAP_STEREO_3D(9), DRM_CLIENT_CAP_UNIVERSAL_PLANES(9), DRM_CLIENT_CAP_ATOMIC(9), DRM_CLIENT_CAP_ASPECT_RATIO(9), DRM_CLIENT_CAP_WRITEBACK_CONNECTORS(9), DRM_CLIENT_CAP_CURSOR_PLANE_HOTSPOT(9), DRM_CLIENT_CAP_PLANE_COLOR_PIPELINE(9), struct drm_syncobj_eventfd(9), DRM_IOCTL_GEM_CLOSE(9), DRM_IOCTL_PRIME_HANDLE_TO_FD(9), DRM_IOCTL_PRIME_FD_TO_HANDLE(9), DRM_IOCTL_MODE_RMFB(9), DRM_IOCTL_MODE_CREATE_DUMB(9), DRM_IOCTL_MODE_GETFB2(9), DRM_IOCTL_SYNCOBJ_EVENTFD(9), DRM_IOCTL_MODE_CLOSEFB(9), DRM_IOCTL_SET_CLIENT_NAME(9), DRM_IOCTL_GEM_CHANGE_HANDLE(9), struct drm_event(9), DRM_EVENT_VBLANK(9), DRM_EVENT_FLIP_COMPLETE(9), DRM_EVENT_CRTC_SEQUENCE(9)

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🧚

sign-off time: this lil masterpiece comes from ./tools/perf/trace/beauty/incl... and it's dated October 2026 — yes, from the future, we love that for us ⭐ bye bye, go delete your handles 💜