At some point you may want to know about why something is stuck, whether it’s your own code or someone else’s. Print statements, command lines and logging are fine when you need them but only if you are writing your own code. More is possible. The higher level strace and lower level gdb are good tools to use when something is stuck. While dtrace or SystemTap are certainly amazing and powerful, reaching inside a live kernel, few people want or need that much power.
What are your experiences using these tools?
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Great introduction http://www.dirac.org/linux/gdb/