Zack's Kernel News
Zack's Kernel News
Zack Brown reports on fixing printk() bit by bit, kernel internationalization (or not), and kernel encryption and secure boot.
Fixing printk() Bit by Bit
The printk() system call is an important way for the kernel to produce logs and other messages. The kernel doesn't use any standard library functions like printf(), so it has to roll its own. But by all accounts, printk() is a mess.
Recently, Sergey Senozhatsky tried to spruce it up a little and avoid some potential deadlocks. There was a whole range of deadlocks caused by printk() recursing onto itself, and Sergey didn't want to touch any of those. But he said there were plenty of non-recursive deadlock scenarios that needed to be fixed.
Specifically, there were ways to deadlock the system in the output console, and printk() would trigger those deadlocks by trying to write to the console. To fix some of these, Sergey wanted to introduce some new helper functions for the TTY (used to implement the console) and UART code (used to communicate asynchronously with the console).
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
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
-
There's a New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle is a Linux AI assistant that can work with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.