====== Piotr Jaroszyński: Usermode debugging under Linux ======

====== Usermode under Linux overview ======

===== What is it? =====

Linux usermode is a new type of gPXE image that can be run directly on a Linux host as any other userspace application. See [[usermode_howto|how to]] use it.

===== Why would you want to do this? =====

The main goal of the project is to allow new debugging possibilities and shorten the development cycle.

On the other hand it also allows users to easily test their configurations and get a feel of gPXE quickly.

===== Why is this better than KVM or Virtualbox? =====

It's not really better, but surely a bit different. In short, it brings gPXE one step closer to the developer.
Some specific points:
  * catches invalid memory accesses
  * full gdb support as any other userspace application
  * easy to profile
  * starts faster

Being able to also test drivers in userspace is on the radar.