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Explore the technical challenges and potential solutions for integrating ProxyExec and sched_ext in the Linux kernel through this 16-minute conference talk from the Linux Plumbers Conference. Discover how Proxy Execution provides generalized priority inheritance by keeping mutex-blocked tasks on the run-queue and enabling the scheduler to run mutex owners on behalf of blocked tasks to facilitate mutex release. Learn about the concept of split contexts that track both the initially selected task (donor/scheduler context) and the actually running task (execution context). Examine why ProxyExec and sched_ext are currently mutually exclusive via Kconfig due to potential confusion when running tasks on behalf of other tasks. Investigate the promises made to sched_ext schedulers and explore what modifications might be necessary to enable compatibility between these two systems. Consider the critical question of whether merging sched_ext and exposing its interfaces to BPF has inadvertently frozen the scheduler's pre-Proxy Exec behavior as a user ABI, and discuss potential pathways forward for achieving integration.
