Linux

Have you ever wondered exactly which files are being hammered by your Linux system in real-time? While tools like iotop or lsof are great, sometimes you want something more visual, custom, and lightweight. In this post, I’ll walk you through how I built a Real-time File I/O Heatmap using the power of eBPF for data collection and Java 25 for a modern Terminal UI (TUI). What is eBPF and Why Use It? eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter) is a revolutionary technology that allows you to run sandboxed programs in the Linux kernel without changing kernel source code or loading kernel modules. ...

When it comes to preparing documents for important applications like the UK’s ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain), efficiency and ease of use are everything. Recently, I needed to create a PDF from my passport pictures, and after some trial and error, I found a workflow that saved me a ton of time and frustration - all thanks to a fantastic open-source tool called PDF Arranger. The Struggle with LibreOffice Draw At first, I tried using LibreOffice Draw to assemble my passport photos into a PDF. Unfortunately, it was painfully slow, and arranging the imported images was a hassle. The interface just wasn’t built for this kind of task, and I quickly realized I needed a better solution. ...

Modern servers are expected to push hundreds of gigabits per second while keeping latency low and CPU use manageable. Two kernel-level innovations-socket sharding and kernel TLS (kTLS)-help make that possible. When paired with NIC TLS offload, the gains are even bigger. Socket Sharding Traditionally, only one process could accept() connections from a TCP socket. With Linux 4.5 (2016) and SO_REUSEPORT enhancements, multiple processes can share a listening socket. This “socket sharding” lets the kernel distribute connections efficiently across worker processes. ...