Linux: Kernel Markers

“In a series of ten patches, Mathieu Desnoyers posted an updated
version of the Linux Kernel Markers. In the first patch he explains
the need for markers:

“‘With the increasing complexity of today’s user-space
application and the wide deployment of SMP systems, the users need
an increasing understanding of the behavior and performance of a
system across multiple processes/different execution
contexts/multiple CPUs. In applications such as large clusters
(Google, IBM), video acquisition (Autodesk), embedded real-time
systems (Wind River, Monta Vista, Sony) or sysadmin/programmer-type
tasks (SystemTAP from Redhat), a tool that permits tracing of
kernel-user space interaction becomes necessary…'”

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