clone on Linux

[rganesan-l at myrealbox.com]

Hi,

I am unable to access the archives from the sourceforge link. The link
http://www.geocrawler.com/redir-sf.php3?list=strace-devel shows 
"Error - List Not Found". 

Coming to my actual question, I am rather desperate for pthreads support on
Linux. The strae TODO list mentions that "clone doesn't work, cloned
processes can hang". I searched on google and came across some messages from
Wichert Akkerman some time back on the Linux kernel, so I know that this may
require some kernel patches.

The fact that this issue has been around for quite a while shows that this
is not an easy issue to fix. I am not a kernel hacker myself but do have
some experience is system programming under Unix and Linux. I don't know if
I can help, especially since kernel patching may be involved, but I am
willing to try if pushed in the right direction :-). I have the strace
sources checked out from anoncvs.

A few questions before I start on them.

* Where do I start? I see some clone related stuff in process.c and
  syscall.c. 
* Did clone support work at any point of time with any Linux 2.2* kernel?
  Are there any kernel patches floating around? Is this easier to get
  working with 2.4 kernels? 
* Is it possible to support cloned processes sanely *after* they have been 
  started (by using strace -p).
  
Thanks a lot for your help. I've found strace invaluable for developing on
Linux, so a big thank you for that too. 

Ganesan

-- 
R. Ganesan (rganesan at novell.com)       | Ph: 91-80-5721856 Ext: 2149
Novell India Development Center.       | #include <std_disclaimer.h>