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eBooks from Robert Love
All books and eBooks by Robert Love:
Linux System Programming
Talking Directly to the Kernel and C Library
by Robert Love
Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction and Essential Concepts This book is about system programming, which is the art of writing system software. System software lives at a low level, interfacing directly with the kernel and core system libraries. System software includes your shell and your text editor, your com- piler and your debugger, your core utilities and system daemons. These components are entirely system software, based on the kernel and the C library. Much other soft- ware (such as high-level GUI applications) lives mostly in the higher levels, delving into the low level only on occasion, if at all. Some programmers spend all day every day writing system software; others spend only part of their time on this task. There is no programmer, however, who does not benefit from some understanding of system programming. Whether it is the programmer’s raison d’être, or merely a foun- dation for higher-level concepts, system
(2007)
Linux in a Nutshell
by Ellen Siever, Stephen Figgins, Robert Love, and Arnold Robbins
Linux in a Nutshell, Sixth Edition by Ellen Siever, Stephen Figgins, Robert Love, and Arnold Robbins Copyright © 2009 Ellen Siever, Stephen Figgins, and Robert Love. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472. O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are also available for most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales department: (800) 998-9938 or corporate@oreilly.com. Editors: Simon St.Laurent and Production Services: Octal Publishing, Inc. Andy Oram Cover Designer: Karen Montgomery Production Editor: Rachel Monaghan Interior Designer: David Futato Indexer: Angela Howard Illustrator: Robert Romano Printing History: January 1997: First Edition. February 1999: Second Edition. August 2000: Third Edition. June 2003: Fourth Edition. July 2005: Fifth Edition. September 2009: Sixth Edition. Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trademarks of
(2009)
Linux in a Nutshell
by Ellen Siever, Aaron Weber, Stephen Figgins, Robert Love, and Arnold Robbins
Chapter 1 Introduction 1 It is hard to chart the rise of Linux without risking the appearance of exaggera- tion and hyperbole. During the past few years alone, Linux has grown from a student/hacker playground to an upstart challenger in the server market to a well- respected system taking its rightful place in educational and corporate networks. Many serious analysts claim that its trajectory has just begun, and that it will eventually become the world’s most widespread operating system. Linux was first developed by Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki in Finland. From his current location in Silicon Valley, Linus continues to centrally coordinate improvements. The Linux kernel continues to develop under the dedi- cated cultivation of a host of other programmers and hackers all over the world, joined by members of programming teams at major computer companies, all connected through the Internet. By “kernel,” we mean the core
(2005)
