Questions tagged [kernel]
The kernel tag has no summary.
38 questions
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Multithreaded Game Server: Single send() or Many send()s for Game List?
I'm developing a multithreaded game server (C/TCP). I need to send a list of 50-100 available games to a console client.
Option A: Send 50-100 separate messages, using send() for every single ...
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2
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Why does linux require that newly added syscalls be supported permanently?
I was reading some of the documentation for the linux kernel and I stumbled upon an article about adding new syscalls to the linux kernel. The article essentially says that any syscall in the linux ...
2
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Better alternative for cherry picking across heavily diverged branches
I'm currently trying to update the linux kernel used in a xilinx SoC, my company has an internal repo/fork of xilinx open source linux with a bunch of kernel drivers for our custom hardware & ...
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On hanging Desktop-applications
I am filled with questions pertaining to the situations where a desktop-application hangs, possibly for minutes.
I've got this complicated game-engine written in c++. Several times during development, ...
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2
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How can Monolithic kernel based OS are faster the Microkernels?
I have been studying about OS and currently, I am on "types of the kernel". Now in the book and some websites are saying Monolithic kernel-based OS is faster, but how are they faster than ...
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5
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993
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Is an OS compiled every time it boots?
Is an OS compiled every time it boots, or is it compiled once and the result used every time the OS is (re)booted?
When users change settings, is the compiled kernel modified at all?
If I am the one ...
- 121
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1
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1k
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How do ISRs and user threads synchronize and share data?
My question is more of educational than an actual coding problem. I tried searching the web, but got little help.
I am trying to learn how to write ISR and understand how they interact with user ...
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1
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98
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Critical view of a particular application design
For a system, I have certain requirements
should be soft realtime.
should be able to handle lots of operations in parallel
should have ability to add, remove, alter features
should be able to ...
- 385
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364
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Is it dangerous to link together -mno-red-zone and regular code?
I know that in x86_64, there exists a 128 byte red zone above (or below, address-wise) the stack pointer that functions can use without subtracting from rsp.
This sounds to me like the only things ...
- 129
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1
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140
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How does disk wiping software access my hard disk?
I'm an amateur programmer. I have a lot of interest in the inner workings of operating systems, a subject that I've been reading a lot about.
What I've understood about kernels is that on most ...
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2
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457
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What is a unikernel?
Today, I searched for includeOS and I found that it defines itself as a minimal unikernel.
I am wondering what is UniKernel. The wikipedia explanations are not clear enough to me.
Is unikernel an ...
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1
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Are some operation system (kernels) more efficient with hardware than others?
When comparing the Windows, macOS, and Linux kernel to each other, do some make better use of hardware in terms of cache efficiently, page lookups, or power consumption?
I noticed this after ...
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1
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309
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Loading My Custom OS from USB flash drive
Suppose I want to create a portable OS, that needs a USB flash drive only to work. and i wrote my boatloader in the first sector to be loaded by the BIOS, from here on, what can I do to load my OS ...
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2
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68
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Executable verification in user mode
I am posting this here instead of on Stack Overflow because this is more conceptual. I am primarily thinking of this a Linux context, but this can be extended to other operating systems.
When I didn'...
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1
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Are there system calls like posix in assembly level using int number for windows
I want to write assembly program using
windows syscall Interrupt number
, so in order to use system call in assembly level using int of sys call, In windows are there kernel calls like posix ...
- 127
3
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1
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145
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Kernel operation
I'm trying to grasp the concept of an operating system at the moment (on Unix-like machines)
The kernel is the process with PID 0. Of course the Kernel is not really "just another process" because a ...
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Kernel facilities needed for C++
I'm working on a kernel for a proprietary embeded system. I've had no issues but I'd like to expand its capabilities directly. I made it run C. I did so pretty much by giving my kernel a stack.
My ...
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1
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dma allocation in kernel 4g patch theory [closed]
I was reading about that that old patch.
The summary of that link is to create a 4Gb kernel space, instead of 1Gb by default.
Since many dma capable devices can only access 32 bit addresses or 4Gb, ...
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5
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7k
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How is spinlock different from polling?
Is spinlock and polling the same thing?
Wikipedia:
a spinlock is a lock which causes a thread trying to acquire it to simply wait in a loop ("spin") while repeatedly checking if the lock is ...
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4
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7k
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Relation between Kernel & BIOS routines [duplicate]
How does a Kernel provides different functionality to OS? Does it use the BIOS routines or use special device drivers for this, or something else? If uses BIOS how does it come to know which routine ...
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265
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Support Vector Machines as Neural Nets?
This is more of a conceptual question.
I have learned about Neural Nets, and I have some clue as to how Support Vector Machines work. I read somewhere however that given the appropriate kernel (is ...
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2
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NT Kernel Source
Well, the first question would be: Is it legal to take hold of the NT Kernel Source? If so, proceed to the second paragraph; if not, proceed to the third.
The first thing you'd probably ask is "Why ...
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Theoretical basis for (Linux) kernel development
KernelDevViewpoint (an apparently serious source) makes kernel development look like an accessible art. According to them:
Contrary to popular belief, kernel developers rarely need to know math
at ...
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Does change the license under which Linux is released need the permission of all the copyright holders?
As far as I know Linus holds the copyright to Linux.
While looking around in the kernel sources, I see that almost every file has it's own copyright holders. For example the file module.c in the ...
- 125
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2
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801
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Hardware running gpl code
Let's say I am selling hardware that uses the linux kernel. Do I have to state somewhere that it is running linux(or other gpl code)?
The reason I am asking this is because I bought a television, ...
- 125
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1
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316
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unseen/unknown function definition in linux source
Can any one please explain this piece of code I found in the linux kernel source. I see a lots of code like this in linux and minix kernel but dont seem to find what it does (even if C compilers ...
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13
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Why do operating systems do low level stuff in C and C++? Why not just C++?
On the Wikipedia page for Windows, it states the Windows is written in Assembly for the bootloader and task switcher, and C and C++ for kernel routines.
IIRC, you can call C++ functions from an ...
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715
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Are monolith and microkernel design patterns or strategies?
What's the difference between a design pattern and a strategy?
Is the monolith actually an anti-pattern?
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171
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12
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34k
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How do operating systems… run… without having an OS to run in?
I'm really curious right now. I'm a Python programmer, and this question just boggled me: You write an OS. How do you run it? It has to be run somehow, and that way is within another OS?
How can an ...
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Are there similarities between operating system kernels and programming language kernels?
I know very little about Smalltalk but I noticed that there's a frequent mention of the "kernel". Dan Ingalls prime maintainer of several implementations of Smalltalk also worked on a Javascript ...
- 1,016
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Why does ARM processors dominate Mobile platforms while x86 dominates Desktop/Server platforms
Almost all of the mobile phones, except the ones being produced by Intel, use ARM based processors while desktop/server industry is dominated x86 processors.
What features does one provide over the ...
241
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15
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Why was Tanenbaum wrong in the Tanenbaum-Torvalds debates?
I was recently assigned reading from the Tanenbaum-Torvalds debates in my OS class. In the debates, Tanenbaum makes some predictions:
Microkernels are the future
x86 will die out and RISC ...
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1
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Low Level vs High Level Development [closed]
I really want to start working in OS development, particularly kernel development, with the Open Source Darwin Project - building my own Mac-like operating system, however I am simply not experienced ...
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6
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Is Assembly still relevant? [closed]
Are there major differences between assembly language and higher level languages when it comes to coding and/or managing projects? Obviously it takes more statements in assembly language to carry out ...
user32288
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5
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Advice for an ambitious student on building your own kernel [closed]
I'm a very ambitious university student who wishes to learn pretty much everything there is to know about computers (bash me if you want, I love learning). Recently I thought it would be a fun project ...
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Other than the Linux kernel, which operating system kernels should you study? [closed]
The Linux kernel is often listed as a code base which you are recommended to read and, even if it is poorly commented (or the files I have looked at have all been), it does have some really good code ...
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How to understand Linux kernel source code for a beginner? [closed]
I am a student interested in working on Memory Management, particularly the page replacement component of the linux kernel.
What are the different guides that can help me to begin understanding the ...
user16867
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3
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10k
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What are some interesting but not too difficult projects for a beginner kernel hacker?
Having taken a course in Operating Systems I'm interested in expanding my knowledge of the Linux kernel and practice working with a big system. What are some interesting but not overly difficult ...
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