libtune (Tunables library) is an API that helps accessing the kernel tunables and system information in a "standard way".
The actual pseudo-files that contain the tunables values are hidden to the developer, making any binary built on top of this API completely portable across kernel releases or across distro families.

The libtune library provides the following features:
1) get the value of a tunable, either stored as a part of a pseudo-file or as a complete pseudo-file
2) set the value of a writable tunable
3) locate a tunable (in terms of the associated pseudo-file)
4) get a help string for a tunable

libtune is different from sysctl in that:
1) there is no need to know where the underlying pseudo-file is located: the tunables are manipulated via key words rather than their actual file location.
2) it is possible to get or set a value that is a part of pseudo-file (eg it is possible to get or set semmns value that is part of /proc/sys/kernel/sem).

Today, there is a limited set of supported kernel releases, distros, as well as a limited set of supported tunables.

Support for new kernel releases, distros, families or tunables can easily be achieved thanks to a set of scripts that are delivered with the libtune API.