Hello all !
I am trying to write a scientific analysis logger which basically records what files are used/created/deleted/modified/moved over the course of some command-line execution event.
The data gets logged to an online graph database, which isn't really relevant - I only mention it because perhaps people here are interested in that sort of thing: https://vimeo.com/138812995 / http://ac.gt/log
Anyway, the current method of detecting what files are used/modified/etc is to MD5 all potentially files/directories before and after execution and compare. But this method is obviously pretty crude because we dont really know if the "logged" process is the one modifying files. I put a job request up on upwork for anyone who could do a better job in either ptrace (upwork.com/jobs/~018f39e58e7e05badb) and/or DTrace (upwork.com/jobs/~01da08227c16369b13/), and i got a lot of people interested in helping with ptrace but very few (actually none) interested in coding up the same in DTrace. This is a real shame, because from what I understand DTrace is superior since logging happens in kernel-land.
So this brings me to my two questions:
1) Is it possible to install DTrace on Linux and re-use the same .d files on both? Or do I have to make Linux-specific .d files? Would I be better off using inotify or ptrace on Linux instead of forcing a DTrace-shaped block into a Linux-shaped hole?
2) I'm a Python-programming biologist. I understand that logging what scientists do on the command line is really really important for reproducibility and transparency reasons, but i'm not the guy to do it. I'm way out of my depth with all the system calls, etc. However, I can't just ignore the BSD/OSX users (of which I am one) because I couldnt find someone to make it happen with DTrace. Problem is, I dont know where to go to find people willing to do it with me.
I know a mailing list is probably the last place to ask for help since you mainly deal with quick queries/bugs/etc, but if anyone could tell me where YOU would look for freelancers who know some DTrace, i'd love to hear it :)
Thank you all so much, and have a great week :)
- John Longinotto
