[Vm-dev] libc6 requirements for Linux VM

[K. K. Subramaniam]

On Saturday 16 Oct 2010 3:09:02 am David T. Lewis wrote:
> For XOs and for all Etoys users, the images are not closure enabled,
> and therefore only the traditional interpreter VM (not Cog) is an
> issue at this time. Thus for the next round of VMs to be released
> (timing aligned with Squeak 4.2 release), there is no need to provide
> a Linux Cog VM compiled with the older libraries. Is this correct?
The defect has to do with any VM linked against libc6-2.7 or later running in 
256MB machines with disks. It would apply to Cog VM too. The manifest behavior 
is responsiveness that goes from millisecs to seconds :-( :-(. We have to make 
a special version for older configurations.
> I know that there is an Etoys release being prepared right now. What
> is the timeline for finding a solution to this issue?
Unknown at present. The defect is not in Etoys but in linux kernel. The defect 
is very tricky and triggers a fault only during disk i/o operations under low 
memory conditions. It was tracked down only in Dec 2009. Those who are 
interested in kernel and i/o scheduling may want to follow the detective trail 
in http://lkml.org/lkml/2009/12/7/237 thread.

Subbu