Understanding the Linux Kernel (2nd Edition)
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Spotlight Customer Reviews
Average Customer Rating: 4Customer Rating: 5
Summary: 1-5 star depends what information you are looking for
Comment: I am CS student and I had been confused by my OS textbooks with bunch of abstract block diagrams, pseudo codes, and implementation examples on different hardware platforms. I know OS handles interrupts, uses locks, manages process, do file-IO caches, but I want to have a clear picutre of how these really work together. I try to dig Linux kernel code by myself but only finds more questions and frustrations. This book helps me at this point. It describes x86 hardware (which unfortunately not well taught in my CS architecture class), illustrate data structures and code so I can trace code way much faster. It's a book to HELP you understand the Linux kernel (or a real working kernel than those obsolete/only_avaiable_in_super_computing_center ones in the old OS textbooks). If you are already a super OS programmer or C/asm hacker you don't need this book cause you may know things faster by reading the source. You can't use this book to learn the philosophies of OS design, nor can you understand the kernel detail without actual code trace. It may not be up-to-date for a weekly-refreshing software (which book can?), but once you learn the gory details, tracing the changes is piece of cake.
Customer Rating: 4
Summary: A very decent book on Linux Kernel v2.4
Comment: A very decent book on Linux Kernel v2.4. Based on PC 80x86 architecture, it covers both uni- and multi-processor systems. Very detailed, explains not only how kernel works but also why it was designed this way.
This is an exciting book for anyone seeking advanced insides into Linux Kernel. I rated it 4 for lack of clear separation between Linux and hardware responsibilities. I also wish the author would have conducted a comparison study with Windows, another POSIX-compliant OS.
Customer Rating: 4
Summary: Four Herrings for this book
Comment: This is a good book on the kernel.
only thing lacking is Linux 2.6...
guess it must be hard to write an Uptodate book on the kernel.