Re: [PATCH] perf tools: update docs regarding kernel/user space unwinding

From: Tony Jones
Date: Fri Mar 27 2020 - 16:09:43 EST


On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 04:32:26PM -0500, Paul Clarke wrote:
> > + and 'lbr'. The value 'dwarf' is effective only if libunwind
> > + (or a recent version of libdw) is present on the system;
> > + the value 'lbr' only works for certain cpus. The method for
> > + kernel space is controlled not by this option but by the
> > + kernel config (CONFIG_UNWINDER_*).
>
> Your changes are just copying the old text, so this isn't a criticism of your patches.
>
> Do we have information to replace "a recent version of libdw", which will quickly get stale?

Hi Paul.

The original "(libunwind or a recent version of libdw)" text was from Feb 2016. So a while ago.

bd0419e2a5a9f requires >= 0.157 but this is for probing. 0a4f2b6a3ba50 specifies >= 0.158 but I see no mention of
why in the commit but since it's from 2014 and elfutils is now at 0.178, I think it's safe to just remove the
reference.

As an aside, there is a lot of detail in perf-config.txt that's available in some of the other subcomands help files.
Seems a good way for things to get stale. It could also do with some grammatical cleanup.

Tony