Customer Reviews

Linux Core Kernel Commentary: Guide to Insider's Knowledge on the Core Kernel of the Linux Code

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The book is *extremely* useful for understanding the linux kernel operation, when away from your terminal. Although I agree with some of the nit-picks in the reviews below (and have a few of my own) I would not give the book a *bad* review.

Yes, it follows the format of the John Lions "Commentary On UNIX 6th Edition", showing the source code (with line numbers) first, followed by in depth commentary (with references to line numbers). An extremely good format. Too bad they missed some aspects of the Lions format, such as cross reference tables, and using a fixed number of lines per page.

The source code is easily 2/3's of the book. However, it's necessarily included to a) let the source speak for itself as much as possible, and b) to freeze the code for the annotated cross references, since the linux source is in constant flux.

Organizationally the book is missing a few things. In fact, frustratingly so because they could have made many things easier if they'd only followed the wisdom of the Lions book;

1) A line number/subroutine/filename cross reference table. This is an *important* aspect of the original Lions.

2) It would be nice if the line numbers had anything to do with the page numbers, since the line numbers aren't a fixed number per-page (In Lions there were 50 lines per page, so it was easy to scan for line numbers by flipping pages; 4500, 4550.. the linux book numbers jump all over; 13211, 13403.. yuck!)

3) Each page should have a title at the top indicating which file is being listed. Again, see Lions..! As it is, you have to flip all around looking for section headings, which incidentally appear in random positions on pages.

4) Someone should have taken the trouble to embolden function headings. It's important to identify the start of subroutine headings. The Lions book didn't need this because the AT&T code was easier to determine function headings due to their commenting style

Regardless, the Linux book is very handy for studying the kernel in an offline manner. They should've done a little more for the reader, though. But thankfully, the source speaks for itself.

The kernel version is 2.2.5; it says so in the Introduction on page xv. Granted, it doesn't say it on the cover, it probably should :/ Also, this book is intended for core kernel (scheduling, processes, filesystem), not for device drivers. DD's would be nice, but in a whole different book! I don't fault them for that.

Certainly a hyperlinked version of the source on the CD would've been nice. However, I did get one hell of a kick out of the oldest version of the linux code on the CD as well as the current; a pleasant surprise for me, esp. in the context of this book! Very revealing about how the kernel developed.

I hope in the second edition, the authors take our comments into account.

I just got my copy of Core Kernel Commentary ... and was I ripped off or what! I just paid to get a bound copy of the Kernel source code!

Yes, I am serious. 414 pages out of 561 are just a printout of the kernel source code (minus the service modules) with line numbers. I just paid for a 150-page book. Colour me unimpressed.

I've only peeked at the remaining 150 pages; the architecture diagrams are pretty much verbatim from the free LHG and the 'annotations' are little one-paragraph restatements of the comments with the odd tidbit here and there, but unless you plan to read it cover to cover, there is no clear organization to the information. Even the CD is useless, it's just 5 editions of the kernel sources with TAG files (jump to a line number given a source code token) ... even if the CD just had the sources with hyperlinks to these 'annotations' it might be mildly useful.

This one is going back.

This is a book that may prove useful to some. It contains a chunk of the Linux kernel source code in printed form and some commentary on the code. It has been pointed out that one can get the kernel code for free very easily. This is true. However, the commentary does add some value to this book, as there are some valuable explanations of some interesting areas of the Linux kernel. My favorite is the chapter on kernel memory management, which includes a nice explanation of the conditions that trigger the fearsome Segmentation Fault.
The commentary in this book is sketchy in places and is focused on the x86 architecture where processor architecture matters. I found that the commentary was fairly useful overall and therefore I could justify the price of the book. I also appreciate, as another reviewer mentioned, the nicely bound hardcopy of the source code so that I can thumb it without being in front of my computer.
Thus, I would recommend this book to people who would like to: a) learn more about how Linux works, b) speak fluent C, and c) feel they need a bit more information than the kernel comments and documentation provide in order to really understand the code. This is not a book for novice programmers! This is not a book for Uber-Hackers, either. This is a book for in-between types, like myself (I have three years professional experience and have been casually fiddling with computers for more than ten years).

The commentary is clear and illuminating. As one reads it, one must constantly flip back and forth to the first part of the book, but that's ok. The guided tour through the kernel internals is well worth the price of admission. Highly recommended for any serious programmer curious about the Linux kernel.

This is probably the book that you don't want, if what you want is to know about the internals of Linux, this book is not the accurate for it, first of all, in Amazon.com you see that they say that the book is like 500 pages long, well, that's true, only that almost 400 pages are code, and not new code, all code, corresponding to the 2.2.14 kernel, and the latest stable release of the kernel is is 2.4.8.

All the information that you need about the linux kernel can be easy obteined reading freely available information on the Internet,...

Anyway, if you really want to learn about the linux kernel buying this book is not going to get you one step closer.

I've found this book somewhat usefull. It does a firly good job of explaining the various features and services available inside the linux kernel. The source code is used as an aid to explinations of services, but is incomplete, and so is somewhat lacking as complete reference.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to really know how a real OS works. Yes, the bulk of the book is Linux kernel source, but it has been nicely formated and the commentary alone is worth the price of the book. You also get the source on CD in a nicely browseable format.

I think that some of the previous reviews are unfair. This book follows in the footsteps of the classic Lions book, which many Unix "old-timers" cherish. If flipping back and forth is too much effort to learn an OS - either you are brilliant enough to understand kernel source at first glance or you should stick to working with things that have on-screen help. If it is too much to pay someone thirty+ bucks to have kernel source conveniently packaged so that you can read it late at night on the sofa, perhaps you won't really appreciate what you are getting.

I'd like to thank Scott Maxwell for the service he has done for the Linux - too many OS books are written so abstractly that they might as well be written on parchment in Old English.

i bought this book with ambitions of teaching myself linux internals or being able to read the print version of the source for reference. if find myself frequenting online groups and threads for more and better answers than the book provides. also the kernel is older than the current 2.4x. in particular i was looking for CIFS vfs stuff which wasn't in this at all (but is in 2.4x).

so two stars because i haven't been able to use it much. others may find it more relevant in their "core" areas.

Am very impressed with its valuable content and liken it to Peter Norton's mid-80's computer books in that it is pleasurable to read while serving up the information I need. Unlike many of my other computer books which I now use as drink coasters, this text is shelved safely on my desk. I grab at it often as a reference. An excellent book. I look forward to further efforts by the author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to really know how a real OS works. Yes, the bulk of the book is Linux kernel source, but it has been nicely formated and the commentary alone is worth the price of the book. You also get the source on CD in a nicely browseable format.

I think that some of the previous reviews are unfair. This book follows in the footsteps of the classic Lions book, which many Unix "old-timers" cherish. If flipping back and forth is too much effort to learn an OS - either you are brilliant enough to understand kernel source at first glance or you should stick to working with things that have on-screen help. If it is too much to pay someone thirty+ bucks to have kernel source conveniently packaged so that you can read it late at night on the sofa, perhaps you won't really appreciate what you are getting.

I'd like to thank Scott Maxwell for the service he has done for the Linux community - too many OS books are written so abstractly that they might as well be written on parchment in Old English.