Megan Phinney | Searcharxiv

arXiv2024

Zero-consistency root emulation for unprivileged container image build

Do Linux distribution package managers need the privileged operations they request to actually happen? Apparently not, at least for building container images for HPC applications. We use this observation to implement a root emulation mode using a Linux seccomp filter that intercepts some privileged system calls, does nothing, and returns success to the calling program. This approach provides no consistency whatsoever but appears sufficient to build all Dockerfiles we examined, simplifying fully-unprivileged workflows needed for HPC application containers.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2024

A cast of thousands: How the IDEAS Productivity project has advanced software productivity and sustainability

Computational and data-enabled science and engineering are revolutionizing advances throughout science and society, at all scales of computing. For example, teams in the U.S. DOE Exascale Computing Project have been tackling new frontiers in modeling, simulation, and analysis by exploiting unprecedented exascale computing capabilities-building an advanced software ecosystem that supports next-generation applications and addresses disruptive changes in computer architectures. However, concerns are growing about the productivity of the developers of scientific software, its sustainability, and the trustworthiness of the results that it produces. Members of the IDEAS project serve as catalysts to address these challenges through fostering software communities, incubating and curating methodologies and resources, and disseminating knowledge to advance developer productivity and software sustainability. This paper discusses how these synergistic activities are advancing scientific discovery-mitigating technical risks by building a firmer foundation for reproducible, sustainable science at all scales of computing, from laptops to clusters to exascale and beyond.

cs.CY↗