/debug directory -- what is it?

[Paul Jackson]

In article <901001113629.21202546 at FEDC06.FED.ORNL.GOV>, RUITERJR at FEDC06.FED.ORNL.GOV ("To
Thine Own Self be True.") writes:
|>       What is the /debug directory for?  I've looked through the
|> manuals and can't find anything on it.  Seems its taking up a rather
|> large portion of our disk space, but I've never seem much of it used.

The /debug directory is an early version of AT&T's /proc directory.
It provides access to per-process information to debuggers and such.
It is a mapping into the file system name space of information that
is contained in various main memory data structures and regions.

It is NOT a mapping into the file system name space of any disk
resources, it consumes NO disk space and it has essentially nothing
to do with disks.  The "size" numbers that show up when you do an
"ls" are an indication, by an unusual means, of the total virtual
memory size of a process.

The /debug contents are much like the output of the "ps" command,
just a transient display of kernel data that the kernel supplies
on demand from existing data.

-- 

				Thanks, take care ...
				Paul Jackson (pj at asd.sgi.com), x1373