Post Syndicated from original https://lwn.net/Articles/937416/

Over the years, the kernel has developed a number of deferred-execution
mechanisms to take care of work that cannot be done immediately. For many
(or most) needs, the workqueue
subsystem is the tool that developers reach for first. Workqueues
took their current form over a dozen years
ago, but that does not mean that there are not improvements to be made.
Two sets of patches from Tejun Heo show the pressures being felt by the
workqueue subsystem and the solutions that are being tried — with varying
degrees of success.