linux-kernel - Re: Ksplice updates for Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty

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Message-ID: <4A523438.6030506@davidnewall.com>
Date:	Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:58:24 +0930
From:	David Newall <davidn@...idnewall.com>
To:	Pavel Machek <pavel@....cz>
CC:	Jeff Arnold <jbarnold@...lice.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	tabbott@...lice.com, wdaher@...lice.com, andersk@...lice.com,
	nelhage@...lice.com, price@...lice.com, geofft@...lice.com
Subject: Re: Ksplice updates for Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty

Pavel Machek wrote:
> I did not say "unimportant patches". I said simple patches.
>
> Lets say something adds field to task_struct. Can you handle that?
>   

By co-incidence, a similar discussion took place on another mailing list
last week, and the answer was that yes, Ksplice can handle it.  From my
reading of the Ksplice paper (http://www.ksplice.com/paper), I think a
shadow structure is created to hold the new field.  Code that accesses
the new field, which ipso facto is part of the patch, is modified to use
the shadow structure; the rest of the kernel remains unaltered.
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