GDB and SystemTap integration improving linker-debugger interface

It is really nice to see something you did in a project influence in future features and developments. I always feel happy and proud when I notice such scenarios happening, and this time was no different. Gary Benson, a colleague at Red Hat who works in the GDB team as well, has implemented a way of improving the interface between the linker and the debugger, and one of the things he used to achieve this is the GDB <-> SystemTap integration that I implemented with Tom Tromey 2 years ago.

So long, Ambassadors...

No, I am not leaving the Fedora Project, I am just leaving (or taking a break, depending on how you look) its Ambassadors program. I am still the co-maintainer of the GDB package, and will contribute to the development of the distribution since it is also my job. However, after a few months trying to become more involved with the Fedora community (specifically with the Brazilian/LATAM community), I became so disappointed that the only logical action for me now is to step back.

Document Freedom Day 2013 in Campinas -- São Paulo -- Brazil

Hi, there! This is the report of the Document Freedom Day event that took place in Campinas, São Paulo state, Brazil. I will talk a little bit about how we (keep reading to know who “we” are!) organized it, and the conclusions that can be drawn to help for the next edition. Organization The DFD (or Document Freedom Day) 2013 in Campinas was organized by the LibrePlanet São Paulo (link in pt_BR) group.

Relato dos Install Fests na UNESP de Rio Claro/SP e na UNICAMP/SP

E… Aqui estamos (estou?) com mais um relato sobre duas atividades envolvendo o Projeto Fedora! Ele contempla, respectivamente, os Install Fests ocorridos na UNESP de Rio Claro/SP e na UNICAMP. Foram atividades que envolveram diversas pessoas, tiveram vitórias e derrotas, alegrias e tristezas, mas acima de tudo um sentimento de impotência (principalmente no Install Fest ocorrido na UNICAMP) em relação às novas “tecnologias” de boot, principalemente ao Secure Boot. Install Fest: missão UNESP de Rio Claro/SP Este foi o Install Fest mais tranquilo.

Bye bye, Juvia!

Once upon a time, there was a guy who cared about what other people could say about what he was writing on his blog. Well, like all fairy tales, this one also has a happy ending! In case you didn’t make the connection, the “guy” is me :-). And also in case you didn’t notice: my blog does not have a comment system anymore. My reasoning for that is simple, and I can make a small list with the major points that made me take this decision:

Misunderstanding the Free Software Philosophy

This will probably be one of those controversial posts, but I really cannot just be silent about a behaviour that I am constantly seeing around me. Since my childhood, I am fascinated by the power of the words. I always liked reading a lot, and despite not knowing the grammar rules (either in pt_BR or en_US, the former being my native language, the latter being the only idiom I can consider myself fluent in), I am deeply interested in what words (and their infinite meanings) can do to us.

[ANÚNCIO] Criação do grupo LibrePlanet São Paulo!

Olá a todos! Finalmente consegui um pouco de tempo na minha agenda, e resolvi escrever no blog para anunciar a criação do grupo LibrePlanet São Paulo! O que é o LibrePlanet O projeto LibrePlanet teve início em 2006, durante a reunião de membros da FSF (a Free Software Foundation). Ele foi criado para ajudar a organizar maneiras de levar o movimento de Software Livre ao conhecimento da população em geral.

Relato da Apresentação sobre o GDB no SoLiSC 2012

Nesta última sexta-feira, dia 30/11/2012, estive presente na sétima edição do SoLiSC 2012, em Florianópolis, para apresentar uma palestra introdutória sobre o GDB. Este é um relato sobre minha particição no evento :-). Impressões sobre o evento Foi a primeira vez que fui ao SoLiSC. Já tive vontade de ir em anos anteriores, mas infelizmente sempre havia algo para atrapalhar. No entanto, nesse ano felizmente tudo correu bem, e inclusive tive uma palestra aceita!

HEADS UP: Comment system is offline temporarily

Hi there. This little post is just a heads about an issue that I am facing with the comment system that I run. Unfortunately, you will not be able to post comments on the blog until, at least, next Wednesday (November 21). For those of you wondering which comment system I use, it is called Juvia. Due to privacy concerns, I chose not to use anything like Disqus because it tracks you and your comments (read their privacy policy if you want more details).

GDB and SystemTap Probes -- part 3

Hi everybody :-). I finally got some time to finish this series of posts, and I hope you like the overall result. For those of you who are reading this blog for the first time, you can access the first post here, and the second here. My goal with this third post is to talk a little bit about how you can use the SDT probes with tracepoints inside GDB. Maybe this particular feature will not be so helpful to you, but I recommend reading the post either way.

GDB and SystemTap Probes -- part 2

I tell you this: it is depressing when you realize that you spent more time struggling with blog engines than writing posts on your blog! It’s been a long time since I wrote the first post about this subject, and since then the patches have been accepted upstream, and GDB 7.5 now has official support for userspace SystemTap probes :-). Yay! Well, but enough of cheap talk, let’s get to the business!

Relato das Apresentações na UNESP de Rio Claro/SP

Conforme eu havia comentado no post anterior, segue o relato sobre as apresentações que fiz na Semana da Computação da UNESP de Rio Claro. TL;DR: Gostei de ter tido a oportunidade de dar as apresentações, e principalmente de ter feito minha primeira palestra como Embaixador do Projeto Fedora no Brasil. Sobre a palestra a respeito do GDB, também gostei do jeito que ela foi conduzida. Notei algumas falhas que precisam ser corrigidas, mas no geral a experiência foi muito boa.

Apresentação na UNESP de Rio Claro/SP

Hoje, dia 23/10/2012, estarei na UNESP de Rio Claro para dar duas apresentações na Semana da Computação. A primeira palestra será sobre o Projeto Fedora. Vai ser a primeira vez que falarei sobre o projeto depois de ter me tornado Embaixador do Fedora no Brasil. Confesso que estou um pouco apreensivo, mas escolhi slides muito bons feitos pelo Paul W. Frields, ex-líder do Projeto e bastante competente em suas apresentações. Pretendo fazer um relato sobre a palestra na quarta-feira.

First Blog post, again...

Well, well. I really wasn’t entirely satisfied with Octopress, so I decided to change the blog engine yet another time!! Here it is, using blohg, a blog engine based on Mercurial (yeah, I know, nothing is perfect), and made by a Brazilian :-). I intend to resume my activities in the blog pretty soon, especially because I have many things to share here. First of all, I will convert the old posts from Markup to rst.

GDB and SystemTap probes -- part 1

After a long time, here we are again :-). With this post I will start to talk about the integration between GDB and SystemTap. This is something that Tom Tromey and I did during the last year. The patch is being reviewed as I write this post, and I expect to see it checked-in in the next few days/weeks. But let’s get our hands dirty… SystemTap Userspace Probes You probably use (or have at least heard of) SystemTap, and maybe you think the tool is only useful for kernel inspections.

My workflow with GDB and git -- part 1

This post is actually a “reply” to Gary Benson’s Working on gdb post. I have been working with GDB for quite some time now, and even though the project officially uses CVS (yes, you read it correctly, it is CVS indeed!) as its version control system, fortunately we also have a git mirror. In the end, what happens is that almost every developer uses the git mirror and just goes to CVS to commit something.