Questions tagged [kernel]
37 questions
240
votes
15 answers
Why was Tanenbaum wrong in the Tanenbaum-Torvalds debates?
I was recently assigned reading from the Tanenbaum-Torvalds debates in my OS class. In the debates, Tanenbaum makes some predictions:
Microkernels are the future
x86 will die out and RISC architectures will dominate the market
(5 years from then)…
Robz
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170
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12 answers
How do operating systems… run… without having an OS to run in?
I'm really curious right now. I'm a Python programmer, and this question just boggled me: You write an OS. How do you run it? It has to be run somehow, and that way is within another OS?
How can an application run without being in an OS? How do you…
Thor Correia
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41
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5 answers
How is spinlock different from polling?
Is spinlock and polling the same thing?
Wikipedia:
a spinlock is a lock which causes a thread trying to acquire it to simply wait in a loop ("spin") while repeatedly checking if the lock is available
This sounds awfully lot…
Lord Loh.
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20
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13 answers
Why do operating systems do low level stuff in C and C++? Why not just C++?
On the Wikipedia page for Windows, it states the Windows is written in Assembly for the bootloader and task switcher, and C and C++ for kernel routines.
IIRC, you can call C++ functions from an extern "C"'d block. I can get using C for the kernel…
Cole Tobin
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19
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5 answers
Advice for an ambitious student on building your own kernel
I'm a very ambitious university student who wishes to learn pretty much everything there is to know about computers (bash me if you want, I love learning). Recently I thought it would be a fun project (albeit a lengthy one) to design and build my…
n0pe
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18
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6 answers
Is Assembly still relevant?
Are there major differences between assembly language and higher level languages when it comes to coding and/or managing projects? Obviously it takes more statements in assembly language to carry out a particular operation than in most other…
user32288
14
votes
3 answers
What are some interesting but not too difficult projects for a beginner kernel hacker?
Having taken a course in Operating Systems I'm interested in expanding my knowledge of the Linux kernel and practice working with a big system. What are some interesting but not overly difficult projects I can try my hand at?
EDIT: a bit of…
EpsilonVector
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How to understand Linux kernel source code for a beginner?
I am a student interested in working on Memory Management, particularly the page replacement component of the linux kernel.
What are the different guides that can help me to begin understanding the kernel source?
I have tried to read the book…
user16867
7
votes
4 answers
Other than the Linux kernel, which operating system kernels should you study?
The Linux kernel is often listed as a code base which you are recommended to read and, even if it is poorly commented (or the files I have looked at have all been), it does have some really good code in it.
Now, putting the Linux kernel aside, which…
Anto
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Why does ARM processors dominate Mobile platforms while x86 dominates Desktop/Server platforms
Almost all of the mobile phones, except the ones being produced by Intel, use ARM based processors while desktop/server industry is dominated x86 processors.
What features does one provide over the other with regards to the domination they have in…
Chander Shivdasani
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6
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Does change the license under which Linux is released need the permission of all the copyright holders?
As far as I know Linus holds the copyright to Linux.
While looking around in the kernel sources, I see that almost every file has it's own copyright holders. For example the file module.c in the Linux kernel contains:
Copyright (C) 2002 Richard…
user2246190
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4
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1 answer
unseen/unknown function definition in linux source
Can any one please explain this piece of code I found in the linux kernel source. I see a lots of code like this in linux and minix kernel but dont seem to find what it does (even if C compilers support that kind of function definition)
/* IRQs are…
Broncha
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3
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What is a unikernel?
Today, I searched for includeOS and I found that it defines itself as a minimal unikernel.
I am wondering what is UniKernel. The wikipedia explanations are not clear enough to me.
Is unikernel an operating system incorporated with a single…
ar2015
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3
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Executable verification in user mode
I am posting this here instead of on Stack Overflow because this is more conceptual. I am primarily thinking of this a Linux context, but this can be extended to other operating systems.
When I didn't know what I know now about operating systems, I…
Melab
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3
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1 answer
Kernel operation
I'm trying to grasp the concept of an operating system at the moment (on Unix-like machines)
The kernel is the process with PID 0. Of course the Kernel is not really "just another process" because a process is a concept of the kernel, but it's not…
hgiesel
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