-/* An unsigned long type for operations which are atomic for a single
- * CPU. Usually used in combination with per-cpu variables. */
+/*
+ * A signed long type for operations which are atomic for a single CPU.
+ * Usually used in combination with per-cpu variables.
+ *
+ * This is the default implementation, which uses atomic_long_t. Which is
+ * rather pointless. The whole point behind local_t is that some processors
+ * can perform atomic adds and subtracts in a manner which is atomic wrt IRQs
+ * running on this CPU. local_t allows exploitation of such capabilities.
+ */