What is the architecture of Linux?
Q. Can you explain the architecture of Linux kernel?
A. Linus Torvalds wrote the first Linux kernel way back in 1991.
Linux is a monolithic kernel. It supports:
=> Preemptive multitasking (both in user mode and kernel mode)
=> Virtual memory
=> Shared libraries
=> On Demand loading
=> Shared copy-on-write executables
=> Memory management
=> The Internet protocol suite and networking
=> Threading
=> Inter-Process Communication
=> Virtual File System and much more
Discussion related to Linux architecture is beyond the scope of this FAQ section. I recommend following books and resources for more information:
- Linux Kernel in a Nutshell - free (Creative Commons license) downloadable book on the Linux kernel
- Kernel.org - Basic Linux kernel documentation and source code
- LWN kernel info pagesThis index covers articles published in the LWN.net Kernel Page.
- Understanding the Linux Kernel [ILLUSTRATED] - This book explains the inner workings of the current 2.6 Linux kernel. I highly recommend this book. You'll learn what conditions bring out Linux's best performance, and you'll see how it meets the challenge of providing good system response during process scheduling, file access, and memory management in a wide variety of environments. This book will help you make the most of your Linux system.
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Related Other Helpful FAQs:
- Linux: Display rpm package architecture
- Linux/UNIX: Rules for naming file and directory names
- Explain Virtual File System
- Linux / UNIX: Device files
- Linux display CPU information - number of CPUs and their speed
Discussion on This FAQ
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June 7th, 2007 at 10:26 am
hay is linux monolitic kernel?
or modular kernel?
February 7th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Linux is a module-loading monolithic kernel
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:58 am
please send me the related documents of linux.