GFP_KERNEL or SLAB_KERNEL?
The kernel slab allocator is an additional layer built on top of the low-level code; it handles situations where numerous objects of the same size are frequently allocated and freed. The slab code, too, has a set of flags describing how memory allocation is to happen. They look suspiciously like the low-level flags, but they have different names; instead of GFP_KERNEL, for example, user of the slab code are expected to say SLAB_KERNEL.
Underneath it all, however, the two sets of flags are the same. As a result, many calls to the slab code just use the GFP_ flags, rather than the SLAB_ flags. William Lee Irwin decided it was time to fix that; he posted a patch converting several slab users over to the SLAB_ flags. It looked like a fairly standard, freeze-stage kernel cleanup.
The question came up, however: why bother? Not everybody, it seems, thinks that the separate SLAB_flags are worth the trouble. William responded with another patch which gets rid of the SLAB_flags altogether. So far, neither patch has been merged. But they do raise a worthwhile question: why do we need a separate set of flags if the callers have nothing different to say?