Bug 197183

Summary:	CPU time for multiprocessor systems
Product:	Documentation	Reporter:	Victor Porton (porton)
Component:	man-pages	Assignee:	documentation_man-pages (documentation_man-pages)
Status:	RESOLVED CODE_FIX
Severity:	low	CC:	mtk.manpages
Priority:	P1
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Kernel Version:		Subsystem:
Regression:	No	Bisected commit-id:

Description Victor Porton 2017-10-10 16:43:51 UTC

`man 2 times` mentions tms_stime as the CPU time spent in the system while executing tasks on behalf of the calling process.

It is unclear whether this time should account the summary time of all kernel processes or threads executing tasks on behalf of the calling process.

In my opinion, it should account the summary time of all kernel processes or threads executing tasks on behalf of the calling process, and this should be documented in the manpage.

Comment 1 Michael Kerrisk 2017-10-20 09:06:51 UTC

I think the issue here is one of ambiguous language in the page: "tasks" here does not correspond to process (or "tasks" in the kernel sense of schedulable entities). It just means "work". To make this clearer, I've ajusted that sentence a little:

       The  tms_stime  field  contains the CPU time spent
       executing inside the kernel while performing tasks
       on behalf of the calling process.

Closing this bug now, since I think the problem is address. Please reopen if you still have concerns.