The Linux kernel is just a program
Most books and courses introduce Linux through shell commands, leaving the kernel as a mysterious black box doing magic behind the scenes. In this post, we will run some experiments to demystify it: the Linux kernel is just a binary that you can build and run. The experiments are designed so you can follow along if you have a Linux PC. But this is completely optional, the goal is to build a mental model about how Linux works, seeing how components of the system fit together. But first let’s talk about what a kernel is. What is a kernel? Computers are built from CPUs, memory, and other devices, like video cards, network cards, keyboards, displays, and a lot of other stuff. These devices can be manufactured by different companies, have different capabilities, and can be programmed…
