How a 2GB Flash Drive Led Me to Rust, Linux Internals and eBPF

Description and use

Pulse is a Rust‑based terminal observability tool that reads /proc and eBPF data, enabling deep system insight on a minimal Arch Linux installation from a 2 GB flash drive.

Problem

Need an operating system small enough to fit on a 2 GB flash drive and a tool to monitor system health on a minimal Linux installation.

Outcome

Pulse provides a lightweight, terminal‑based observability dashboard that reads raw kernel data via /proc and eBPF, enabling deep insight into system performance and events on a minimal Arch Linux setup.

Workflow

• 1. Factory‑reset laptop and remove Windows.
• 2. Install Arch Linux from ISO, partition disk, configure minimal system.
• 3. Use top/htop to view basic metrics.
• 4. Identify need for custom monitoring tool.
• 5. Design Pulse to read /proc for metrics.
• 6. Implement Rust TUI to display metrics.
• 7. Extend Pulse to use eBPF for kernel‑level events.
• 8. Iterate on Pulse features and learning objectives.

Evidence

Pulse is a Linux observability TUI written in Rust.

Source

Pulse reads information from /proc and turns raw data into metrics.

Source

eBPF lets you run small programs in the Linux kernel to observe and respond to events.

Source