Divorcing Linux kernel analysis tools from kernel version

Kernel analysis tools like crash dump analyzer "crash", or kernel instrumentation tools like systemtap, entirely or in parts, tend to depend on kernel internal data structures and algorithms. This makes these tools tied to a particular kernel version. It also forces tools' developers to have ugly "ifdef" macros in code which become difficult to maintain. Some tools go for runtime checks and use, not so smart, "if-then-else" conditions to cope up with differences in kernel versions. For kernel developers who use the tools it is often frustrating if the analysis tools are not compatible to the developing kernel. Apart from version mismatch problems, the tools can also end up in duplicating some kernel code in user-space e.g radix-tree traversal logic. Moreover it is also difficult to maintain such duplicated code. Through this BOF session, the attendees can brain storm on this topic and seek various opinions so as to come up with a proposal for the best way to achieve kernel version independence for analysis tools.