Modeling parts of Linux has become a recurring topic. For instance, the memory model, the model for PREEMPT_RT synchronization, and so on. But the term “formal model” causes panic for most of the developers. Mainly because of the complex notations and reasoning that...
Ftrace’s most powerful feature is the function tracer (and function graph tracer which is built from it). But to have this enabled on production systems, it had to have its overhead be negligible when disabled. As the function tracer uses gcc’s profiling mechanism,...
GNU poke is a new interactive editor for binary data. Not limited to editing basic ntities such as bits and bytes, it provides a full-fledged procedural, interactive programming language designed to describe data structures and to operate on them. Once a user has...
At a rate of almost 9 changes per hour (24/7), the Linux kernel is definitely a scary beast. Bugs are introduced on a daily basis and, through the use of multiple code analyzers, *some* of them are detected and fixed before they hit mainline. Over the course of the...
The Linux kernel project includes a huge amount of documentation, but that information has seen little in the way of care over the years. The amount of care has increased significantly recently, though, and things are improving quickly. Listen as the kernel’s...
