Linux Kernel Internals (2nd Edition)

Since the introduction of Linux version 1.2 in March 1995, a whole community has evolved of programmers from all over the world who were attracted by the reliability and flexibility of this completely free operating system. Now at version 2.0, Linux is no longer only the operating system of choice for hackers, but is being successfully employed in commercial software development, by Internet providers and in research and teaching. This book is written for anybody who wants to learn more about Linux. It explains the inner mechanisms of Linux from process scheduling to memory management and file systems, and will tell you all you need to know about the structure of the kernel, the heart of the Linux operating system. The accompanying CD-ROM contains the Slackware distribution 3.1 together with its complete source code, the Linux kernel sources up to version 2.1.21, the PC speaker driver, and a wealth of documentation, as well as the program for generating the source-oriented index. This second edition of Linux Kernel Internals: * has been thoroughly updated throughout to cover Linux 2. * shows you how the Linux operating system actually works so that you can start to program the Linux kernel for yoursel * introduces the kernel sources and describes basic algorithms and data structures, such as scheduling and task structur * helps you to understand file systems, networking and how systems boot