Re: Override changes standard -> optional
On Tue, Jan 06, 2009 at 09:55:15AM +0100, Gabor Gombas wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 02:00:51PM -0600, Steve Langasek wrote:
>
> > I think we ought to even consider adding gdb in addition to strace, size
> > allowing, since these two tools are rather complementary in their use; but
> > certainly, I'd prefer having strace over not having either.
>
> I disagree. I use strace a lot and it is very handy to verify that a
> service really uses the config/data files it is supposed to use or does
> it react to a network packet or not even if it does not log anything
> etc. OTOH gdb is only useful if you really know the internals of the
> thing and you at least have debugging symbols installed (which is still
> not available for the majority of packages). If you only have a binary
> compiled with -O2 and no debugging symbols, and you do not have deep
> understanding of the internal working of the program, then gdb is
> practically useless.
I don't think gdb is considered, due to its size.
Just for the record, however:
It is also useful for submitting bug reports for someone with deeper
understanding.
ulimit -c unlimited
proggie
gdb -c core /usr/bin/proggie
# bt
# bt full
doesn't take much teaching.
Debug symbols are often available in -dbg packages. Other are hopefully
found at http://debug.debian.net/ in -dbgsym packages (different suffix,
same meaning). They can be installed after the crash, as long as the
versions still match.
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