[TriPython] Debugging Hung Python Processes Talk Proposal

[Chris Calloway]

On 1/6/2016 2:09 PM, Brian Bouterse wrote:
>     Hi TriPython!
>     I'm new to the TriPython community, but I'm looking to get more involved.
>     I've been preparing a talk on using GDB to debug Python code. I see the
>     Feb slot is open. If it is deemed appropriate I would like to give the
>     talk then.
>     Title: ** Debugging Hung Python Processes
>     === Abstract ===
>     When things go wrong in production, it can be necessary to troubleshoot
>     problems where they occur, instead of in a development environment. In
>     those situations having a working knowledge of GDB, GDB Python Extensions,
>     and strace is very helpful. This will show some simple techniques to get
>     insight into those situations.**
>     This talk outlines a variety of debugging techniques for connecting to an
>     already running, "stuck", or deadlocked Python process using GDB.
>     Together we will:
>     * Inspect the current state of threads with and without the help of the
>     new GDB macros for Python.
>     * Inspect a local running process and a core dump collected from a remote
>     machine.
>     * Use strace to gather system call information about a process.
>     * Discuss the SIGTRAP handler as a proactive way to make rpdb available
>     in-production.
>     === Bio ===
>     Brian Bouterse is a Senior Software Engineer at Red Hat in Raleigh, North
>     Carolina. He is a developer on Pulp [0] which is written in Python and
>     deploys Python software among other types (rpm, puppet, docker, etc). He
>     also is a contributor to the Kombu [1] project. Brian loves open source
>     because he loves freedom, collaboration, and choice. He is a Computer
>     Science PhD candidate at North Carolina State University where he studies
>     capacity planning and performance analysis. He lives in Raleigh near NCSU
>     with his wife Katie and his cat Schmowee (my github pic).
>     [0]: [1]http://www.pulpproject.org/
>     [1]: [2]http://kombu.readthedocs.org/
>     -Brian
>     --
>     Brian Bouterse
>
> References
>
>     Visible links
>     1. http://www.pulpproject.org/
>     2. http://kombu.readthedocs.org/

Wow, Brian, thank you so much. You have called shotgun on February with 
a very interesting talk proposal and so you have the spot. Thank you.

Everyone else: this is is how you claim a featured talk. Just do what 
Brian just did: email this list with the open month you want (open 
months can be found at http://tripython.org/meetings#upcoming), the 
title of your talk, a description of your talk, and a brief bio.

I'm so happy. The first quarter of 2016 is all booked. Yay, us!

Not to early to propose talks and claim slots for the rest of the year, 
you know. :)

As a reminder to some and news to others, this form of proposing 
meetings and the philosophy for how TriPython works were inspired in 
part by a sage document from the past, The Shotgun Rules for Bay Area 
Debian Meetings:

http://bad.debian.net/shotgun_rules.txt

It's a tested method that avoid almost all the organizational hazards 
likely to be experienced by user groups.

-- 
Sincerely,

Chris Calloway, Applications Analyst
UNC Renaissance Computing Institute
100 Europa Drive, Suite 540, Chapel Hill, NC 27517
(919) 599-3530