Anatomy of the Linux Kernel

M.Tim Jones an embedded software engineer and the author of several books has written a short but very informative article explaining the anatomy of the GNU/Linux kernel. He starts with a short history of Linux and moves on to giving a brief introduction of Linux kernel and its properties.

The Linux® kernel is the core of a large and complex operating system, and while it’s huge, it is well organized in terms of subsystems and layers. In this article, you explore the general structure of the Linux kernel and get to know its major subsystems and core interfaces. Where possible, you get links to other IBM articles to help you dig deeper.

figure1fi3 Anatomy of the Linux Kernel

Given that the goal of this article is to introduce you to the Linux kernel and explore its architecture and major components, let’s start with a short tour of Linux kernel history, then look at the Linux kernel architecture from 30,000 feet, and, finally, examine its major subsystems. The Linux kernel is over six million lines of code, so this introduction is not exhaustive. Use the pointers to more content to dig in further.

Tha Anatomy