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Operating System
161 posts
An operating system is the most important software that runs on a computer. It manages the computer’s memory and processes, as well as all of its software and hardware. It also allows you to communicate with the computer without knowing how to speak the computer’s language.
OpenBSD vs Linux classic comparison between two Unix-like operating systems
I’ve run both OpenBSD and various Linux distributions in production, and the debate between them tends to generate…
Explaining the Role of Device Drivers in Modern Operating Systems
Every time you plug in a USB drive, click a mouse, or watch a video, there’s a piece…
Explain the role of a process control block (PCB) in kernel data structures
If you’ve ever wondered how an operating system manages to run dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of processes…
Describe the role of kernel locks in ensuring mutual exclusion
Concurrency is where operating systems get genuinely dangerous. The moment you have multiple CPU cores, multiple threads, and…
Describe the initialization process of a kernel module
Loading a kernel module might look instantaneous from the outside — you run insmod or modprobe, and a…
Discuss the steps involved in unloading a kernel module
Loading a kernel module tends to get all the attention in tutorials and documentation, but unloading is arguably…
How is a kernel module loaded into the kernel during runtime
One of the most powerful features of a modern operating system is the ability to extend the kernel…
Describe the role of the kernel module symbol table
If you’ve worked through how kernel modules get loaded and unloaded, there’s one piece of machinery that quietly…
How does a kernel module communicate with the kernel and other modules
When I first started poking around inside the Linux kernel source tree, the thing that confused me most…
What is the significance of the kernel module’s entry and exit points
The first time I wrote a kernel module, I stared at two tiny functions — one marked __init,…