📚 [$] The path to deprecating SPARSEMEM

The term "memory model" is used in a couple of ways within the kernel. Perhaps the more obscure meaning is the memory-management subsystem's view of how physical memory is organized on a given system. A proper representation of physical memory will be more efficient in terms of memory and CPU use. Since hardware comes in numerous variations, the kernel supports a number of memory models to match; see this article for details. At the 2024 Linux Storage, Filesystem, Memory-Management and BPF Summit, Oscar Salvador, presenting remotely, made the case for removing one of those models. ...