![]() ![]() And we need some other supporting configurations to get a system up and running. But in order to have a working system where we can get work done, we need software that interacts with the kernel. If you're so inclined, you can download the source code of the kernel The kernel is what makes Linux, Linux. The Linux kernel is open source, and anyone can download, edit and run the code that makes the Linux system work. And as I mentioned before, that's something that's encouraged. In some cases, people working with the kernel will need to edit the source code of the kernel, to add new features or make changes to how it works. ![]() Some Linux users though, especially hardware designers and some types of programmers and system administrators will interact with the kernel directly. For most users, the kernel just sits in the background taking care of what needs to get done. Though we don't need to worry about it, if we're just getting started with Linux or if we're going to be using Linux in a way that doesn't involve working directly with the kernel. Thinking about the kernel can seem pretty technical and intimidating. Usually, these applications will employ a customized kernel which has been slightly modified to run on different kinds of processors or which have support for unnecessary hardware removed. The Linux kernel can run on tiny devices like circuit boards intended for hobby use, on super computers, solving the mysteries of the universe on desktops, on laptops, on mobile devices. Modern Linux kernels are able to communicate with a huge variety of computer hardware and they can provide an ever-increasing number of useful functions for programs to use. The kernel then communicates this information to the storage medium and reports back that the operation succeeded. When I click save, the text editor software uses a user space library to tell the kernel what to save and where to save it. Imagine the action of saving a file in a text editor. A metaphorical area outside of kernel space where the software running on the system operates. The kernel communicates with this hardware and presents a series of system calls or SIS calls to programs running in what we call user land or user space. First there's the hardware, the memory, the CPU, the storage, the network card, and so on. We can think about this using three levels. The kernel is what allows us to use a computer but it's only part of a working operating system. And we can't run programs without a kernel taking requests and information and translating them to the systems hardware. A kernel can run on its own, though it's not very useful without programs communicating with it. A kernel is software that communicates with the computer's hardware in order to give programs and therefore users access to these resources so they can do what they need to do. ![]() And this has resulted in the Linux kernel being made available in a large variety of Linux distributions, which we'll talk about later on. The license that applies to the Linux kernel allows it to be used and distributed freely. And it was created in response to restrictive licensing that burdened other operating systems at the time. It was first released by Linus Torvalds in 1991. The Linux kernel is an open source program which has been built and modified over the years by thousands of contributors. Though we don't often talk about them as much as we do with the Linux kernel. It's more precise to understand Linux as the kernel of an operating system. While it's common to think about Linux as an operating system. ![]()
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