Linux Core Kernel Commentary, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

~ Scott Andrew Maxwell (Author), Scott Maxwell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Linux kernel is at the heart of the Linux operating system. Programmers can correct bugs and add features to Linux installations by modifying the source code. However, they must first understand how it works and why it works the way it does. Line-by-line, the Linux Core Kernel Commentary, 2nd Edition examines the Linux kernel version 2.4 in depth with corresponding commentary. It explores selected components of the kernel in detail including the memory manager, process scheduler (along with the change in structure), and interprocess communication. It covers changes from kernel version 2.2 and expanded coverage of signal handlers and "itimers" plus added coverage of notifier chains. Includes additional selected system calls and expanded memory coverage including the slab allocator and the lazy buddy allocator. The book features extensive cross-referencing and architectural flow charts to enhance understanding of the structure of the code.

About the Author

Scott Maxwell (Pasadena, CA) holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as Bachelor's degrees in Computer Science and English from East Carolina University.Since 1994, he has been a Unix software developer at the JetPropulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. He has used Unix since 1990 and Linux since early 1997.

Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Coriolis Group Books; 2nd edition (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588801497
• ISBN-13: 978-1588801494
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9.4 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #994,521 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars = * * * * *, December 16, 2001

By	Larry Riedel (San Diego, US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am reviewing the 2nd edition of this book, which talks about the 2.4.x kernels.

This book is unusual in that a lot of it is just the Linux kernel source code; I was only interested in the content from the author, which is roughly the equivalent of a 250 page book. Having the source code as one monolithic printout is nice because the author can put a pointer to the code from the text rather than having to put a zillion code snippets inline with the text; I rarely read code snippets anyway.

In this book I wanted to read about: what is the high level architecture of the kernel; what are the design details of its "core" elements; for each element, what are the key data structures and functions in its implementation; what are some examples of the use of those functions and data structures.

For what I wanted, I think this book is great. I would not hesitate to compare it to the outstanding "Linux Device Drivers" and "Understanding the Linux Kernel" books. I don't know of any comparably high quality sources of this kind of information right now (it is December 2001), except for the also excellent "Linux 2.4 Kernel Internals" guide by Tigran Aivazian.

For someone looking to see good documentation for a particular file in the kernel source code, I would say don't assume you are going to find it in this book. This book covers _some_ of the source. Also, it does not teach you how to interact with the kernel by writing network drivers, filesystem drivers, hardware device drivers, etc.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Babbling, October 25, 2002

By	Michael Yaroslavtsev "besm-6_hacker" (Fremont, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I completely subscribe by the long list of this book's shortcomings mentioned by the previous reviewers (total lack of coverage for the IP stack, for one), however the one thing that gives me the most heartburn is the total and blind adoration that the author displays for his subject. Obviously, this is the only OS kernel that Mr.Maxwell is familiar with, thus he has no reference point for comparison (I would suggest NetBSD). The source code that I am looking at, deserves lots and lots of critique, to put it mildly!

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Something's Gone Terribly Wrong Here, November 30, 2008

By	Mark M. Bernheim - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The product is an iPod dock. The reviews and descritions are for a book on Linux and a guide to cooking with marijuana. What can I say? It doesn't inspire confidence.