Get APLawrence.com by RSS
Essential Linux Device Drivers
2008/05/06
- Sreekrishnan Venkateswaran
- Prentice Hall
- 9780132396554
Regular readers here know that I have been very disappointed with most Linux kernel and device driver books. I did like The Linux Kernel Primer, but until this "Essential Linux Device Drivers" book landed on my desk, that was about it.
I admit that it's very hard to write a good book in this area. You simply have to make assumptions about the readers knowledge - if you don't, you'll be writing an encyclopedia or two. However, I still think that my complaints have been justified, and this author proves that you CAN write a readable, information packed book about Linux device drivers without glossing over vast areas.
Well, that's not entirely true: vast areas are still passed by at break-neck speed, but there's a difference here: every chapter tries to give a high level overview of the area to be discussed, which is then followed by very well explained examples of code, and finally finishes up with pointers to the parts of Linux source code that are relevant. That's a formula that works, and the author also often includes pointers to other relevant resources too. With a little Googling, you should be able to really get a lot out of this book.
As you'd expect, this starts out with an overview of the kernel itself, and it's probably the best I've ever seen. Individual Linux boot messages are pulled out, explained, and the the source code that produced them is examined. It then goes on to discuss kernel locks, briefly looks at procfs and memory allocation, and closes (as each chapter does) with pointers to where to look in the source for the subjects discussed. The next few chapters cover more basic concepts like kernel locks and threads, and then the rest of the book is all device drivers.. starting simply and progressing to more complicated hardware, but always following the format of first giving an overview of the how and why, then presenting sample driver(s), a bit on how to most easily debug, and finally pointers to real kernel sources.
Very well done, and I recommend it. It is a bit expensive, but I think it's worth it.
Order (or just read more about) Essential Linux Device Drivers from Amazon.com
Enter your email address for automatic notification of new posts here
(be sure to whitelist 'feedburner.com' if you use spam filtering)
| Views for this page | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | This Week | This Month | This Year | Overall |
| 5 | 17 | 33 | 33 | 2,850 |
Have you tried Searching this site?
Unix/Linux/Mac OS X support by phone, email or on-site: Support Rates
This is a Unix/Linux resource website. It contains technical articles about Unix, Linux and general computing related subjects, opinion, news, help files, how-to's, tutorials and more. We appreciate comments and article submissions.
http://bcstechnology.net Full service Linux & UNIX systems integrator; Windows to UNIX/Linux Client-Server Specialist; Secure E-Mail & Website Hosting; Thoroughbred Software Developer; Custom Industrial Automation; Hardware & Electronics Experts; In Business Since 1985.
http://www.vss3.com SCO/Caldera OpenServer, Unixware & Linux. Tarantella & Non-stop Clustering
SCO, OpenServer, UnixWare, software, servers, security, networks, installation, administration, troubleshooting, maintenance, Watchguard, firewalls, VPNs, e-mail. Visit us at Open Systems Computing and www.go2unix.com.
Tue May 6 13:28:28 2008: Subject: TonyLawrence
I should look at covers.. Alan Cox has a blurb:
“Probably the most wide ranging and complete Linux device driver book I’ve read.”
That's a pretty solid recommendation, isn't it?
Click here to add your comments