Zack's Kernel News
Zack's Kernel News

Creating libperf; Using GCC Extensions; Editing the Laws of the Universe.
Creating libperf
Jiri Olsa recently posted a large patchset to begin the process of migrating the perf
profiling code out of the core kernel code and into its own libperf library. perf
is a debugging tool that is virtually never encountered by regular users. It profiles parts of the kernel in order to identify bottlenecks and other slowdowns. This lets the developers know which areas of the kernel might offer a big reward for receiving their attention.
Converting perf
to a library is certainly a large task, so Jiri's code was just an initial pass at creating a library infrastructure (based largely on the existing libbpf code), onto which more and more could be migrated over time. Initially, the code was limited to basic counting operations, such as tallying up the number of CPUs and threads or enabling and disabling events. In the perf
world, an "event" is a trigger point that allows perf
to do various actions in the midst of a piece of kernel code that has no idea it's being profiled.
The problem with creating a full libperf library to entirely replace perf
in one fell swoop is that it's too prone to errors. Jiri said the amount of code that would need to be rewritten was truly vast, so the likelihood of creating lots and lots of bugs was pretty high. Creating the stable basic infrastructure first, and then migrating the various pieces in a relatively straightforward progression, would avoid that problem and would make the bug-hunting process much cleaner for everyone.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.