// the find
samikshan/spartakus
Modified form of sparse to generate checksums for exported kernel symbols through semantic processing
A fork of the sparse C semantic analysis tool, modified to generate checksums for exported Linux kernel symbols — the basis for kernel ABI stability checks. It adds a `check_kabi` binary that slots into the kernel build process to populate `Module.symvers`. Audience is kernel developers or distro maintainers who need to catch kABI breakage between kernel versions.
Uses sparse's existing semantic analysis rather than naive text hashing, so the checksums reflect actual type and calling-convention semantics. Integrates into the standard kernel build via `CONFIG_MODVERSIONS`, meaning no separate tooling step. The validation test suite inherited from sparse gives a reasonable baseline for parser correctness.
Abandoned in 2015 — a decade of kernel changes have passed this by, and sparse itself has evolved significantly since the fork point, so merging upstream fixes would be substantial work. No documentation specific to the fork: what was changed, why, how the checksum algorithm works, or how it differs from the in-tree `genksyms` approach. Three stars and one fork after ten years says the kernel community did not adopt it, likely because `genksyms` already exists. The README admits it is a WIP with no indication of what 'done' looks like.