The Linux Kernel 

The Linux Kernel is an Unix-like working framework portion utilized by a mixed bag of working frameworks focused around it, which are ordinarily as Linux conveyances. The Linux Kernel is a noticeable case of free and open source programming. The Linux kernel is discharged under the GNU General Public License form 2 (Gplv2) (in addition to some firmware pictures with different without non licenses), and is created by supporters around the world. Regular improvement dialogs occur on the Linux kernel mailing rundown. 

The Linux kernel was at first considered and made in 1991 by Finnish software engineering understudy Linus Torvalds. Linux quickly gathered engineers and clients who adjusted code from other free software projects for utilization with the new working framework. The Linux kernel has gotten commitments from a great many software engineers.

Linux Kernel Resources

This page has references to various kernel resources (web sites and mailing lists) for developers. Most of this information was gathered over a year ago, and may not be accurate.

• 1 Vanilla Linux kernel
  • 1.1 Mailing List (lkml)
  • 1.2 LKML summaries
  • 1.3 Repository access
  • 1.4 News
  • 1.5 Changelog
• 2 Architecture Sites
  • 2.1 MIPS
  • 2.2 ARM
  • 2.3 PowerPC
  • 2.4 SuperH (SH)
• 3 Documentation
  • 3.1 Online
  • 3.2 Books
• 4 Cross-reference / code online

Vanilla Linux kernel

• www.kernel.org
• Linux Kernel Source Tarballs
• Linus' Git Repository

Mailing List (lkml)

• The Big List of Linux Kernel mailing lists, and where to find their archives
  • LKML - The Linux Kernel Mailing List (where the big boys hang out)
  • linux-embedded - Embedded Linux Kernel List
• How to subscribe to these lists

LKML summaries

• LWN Kernel page - Linux Weekly News kernel coverage

Repository access

• Kernel Git repositories
• Vanilla Linux Git Tree - This is "upstream". Get your code into here, please.
  • But this one has all the going back to 0.0.1, and updates itself from Linus's tree when you do a "git pull". (This is really cool. You want this.)

News

• Linux Weekly News, Kernel page

Changelog

• Comprehensible changelog of the linux kernel
  • http://wiki.kernelnewbies.org/LinuxChanges

• LWN atricles for spcific releases
  • 2.6.3 http://lwn.net/Articles/71669/
  • 2.6.10 http://lwn.net/Articles/117187/
  • 2.6.12 http://lwn.net/Articles/140165/
  • 2.6.15 http://lwn.net/Articles/166130/

• LWN aricles on 2.6 API changes
  • 2.6 API changes http://lwn.net/Articles/2.6-kernel-api/
  • 2.6.12 API changes http://lwn.net/Articles/140164/

Architecture Sites

MIPS

• web site = http://www.linux-mips.org/wiki/Main_Page
• mailing list = http://www.linux-mips.org/wiki/Net_Resources#Mailing_lists
• Maintainer = Ralph Baechle

• there's an alternate site on Source Forge
• the site is: http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-mips
• Note that this is used for experimental stuff that hasn't been merged into the official mips tree by Ralph Baechle

ARM

• web site = http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/
• cvs access = http://cvs.arm.linux.org.uk/
• mailing list = http://www.arm.linux.org.uk/armlinux/mailinglists.php
• wiki = http://www.linux-arm.org/
• Maintainer = Russell King

PowerPC

• web site = http://penguinppc.org/
• mailing lists = http://penguinppc.org/about/community.php#lists
• Git repository = kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/paulus/powerpc.git
• Maintainer = Paul Mackerras
• Power Macintosh Maintainer = Benjamin Herrenschmidt

• cross-compiler mini-howto: http://penguinppc.org/embedded/cross-compiling/

See the following for information on different linuxppc source trees available: http://www.penguinppc.org/dev/kernel.shtml

SuperH (SH)

• www.linux-sh.org
• oss.renesas.com/
• Git repository = kernel.org:/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/lethal/sh-2.6.git
• mailing list address = linux-sh@vger.kernel.org
• mailing list page = http://vger.kernel.org/vger-lists.html#linux-sh
• mailing list archives = http://news.gmane.org/gmane.linux.ports.sh.devel
• wiki = http://linux-sh.org/shwiki/FrontPage
• Maintainer = Paul Mundt

Documentation

Online

• Rusty Russell's Unreliable Guide to Locking
• Embedded Linux kernel and driver development - Free Tutorials at Free Electrons
• Linux USB drivers - USB Driver Tutorial at Free Electrons

Books

• Linux Kernel Development by Robert Love
  • Good introduction to Linux kernel development
• Linux Device Drivers by Jonathan Corbet, Alessandro Rubini, and Greg Kroah-Hartman
  • Great book for getting started with Linux device drivers
  • Free online pdf edition: http://lwn.net/images/pdf/LDD3/
  • online html http://www.makelinux.net/ldd3/
• Essential Linux Device Drivers by Sreekrishnan Venkateswaran
  • Introduction to driver development for major subsystems
• Professional Linux Kernel Architecture by Wolfgang Mauerer
  • Introduction to the architecture, concepts and algorithms of the Linux kernel
• Understanding the Linux Kernel by Daniel Bovet and Marco Cesati
  • Guided tour of the code that forms the core of all Linux operating systems
• Linux Kernel in a Nutshell by Greg Kroah-Hartman
  • Overview of kernel configuration and building
  • Free online edition: http://www.kroah.com/lkn/

Cross-reference / code online

• http://www.makelinux.net/kernel_map
• http://lxr.free-electrons.com/
• http://sosdg.org/~coywolf/lxr/source/
• http://lxr.linux.no/source/
• http://lxr.devzen.net/source/
• Find a kernel function line