break: A Comparison of Solaris, Linux, and FreeBSD Kernels at OpenSolaris.org

A Comparison of Solaris, Linux, and FreeBSD Kernels at OpenSolaris.org: " and debugging tools are critical to get a correct understanding of system behavior. Yes, you can read the source code, but I maintain that you can easily misread the code. Having tools available to test your hypothesis about how the code works is invaluable. In this respect, I see Solaris with kmdb, mdb, and DTrace as a clear winner. I have been 'reverse engineering' Solaris for years. I find that I can usually answer a question by using the tools faster than I can answer the same question by reading source code. With Linux, I don't have as much choice for this. FreeBSD allows use of gdb on kernel crash dumps. gdb can set breakpoints, single step, and examine and modify data and "