On 06/30/2010 12:55 PM, John Johansen wrote: > The server team has requested that the kernel team evaluate the inclusion > of atop into the kernel as it allows for better task accounting. > > The kernel patches apply cleanly and have been built and have been lightly > tested on the Maverick kernel. With some discussion of the patches at > https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/kernel-team/2010-June/011307.html > > The remaining question is whether the atop patches should be included. > There are a few concerns: > > PATCH 2 modifies the process-accounting record, into a layout that is > incompatible with BSD v3 accounting. I have looked around for what > requires BSD v3 accounting and found a few accounting projects like gnus > acct and elsa (http://elsa.sourceforge.net/), But several other projects > like htop (requires /proc), iotop, latencytop do not seem to be using it > (though I didn't dive into the code to verify that). > > It is possible to apply just the first patch and obtain some of the atop > functionality. > > The other immediate concerns with the patches are: potential performance > regressions (none noticed in light testing), and just the general > hesitance to accept patches that are out of tree/not going upstream. > > At this time I am unsure of the atop's projects planning for upstreaming > I have contacted them but at this time do not have a reply. With a > quick search the last submission to LKML I can find is from 2008 > http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=120716470803492&w=2 > http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=120716470803498&w=2 > http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=120716470803497&w=2 > >
You are correct in that I am reluctant to drag in unmaintained crack into core kernel structures. I still find 'better task accounting' to be insufficient justification. What specifically makes for better task accounting? Why is atop better then other methods? As far as I can tell the current patches still suffer from the deficiencies mentioned by Andrew Morton in http://marc.info/?l=linux-kernel&m=120716470803492&w=2 Gimme an example of a problem that atop will help solve for which no other method will suffice. rtg -- Tim Gardner [email protected] -- ubuntu-server mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-server More info: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerTeam
