discuss: user space - kernel space howto
Subject:
Re: [discuss] user space - kernel space howto
From:
Ariane Keller ####@####.####
Date:
3 Mar 2008 07:58:44 -0500
Message-Id: <47CBF8E9.8000309@ee.ethz.ch>
Hi Steven
Thanks for your feedback!
Steven wrote:
>> have put a very early version of my proposed user space -
>> kernel space communication howto on my homepage
>> [ http://people.ee.ethz.ch/~arkeller/linux/ ]
>
> Hmmm.. Imho very readable and interesting technical document.
> I like it :> It's pretty ambitious too. Good luck.
>
> I hope i've understood you properly as i haven't gone
> through it fully. It's a fairly technical and abstract
> topic, and I'm not sure who/what it's meant for.
It is meant for a developer who has to write an application which
consists of a user space and a kernel space part. I had to do this
several times, and I always had to figure out how my kernel module and
the user space process could communicate.
> Would it be possible to post a single page version as well ?
I've just put it online.
>
> Have you checked for similar stuff around the web ?
Yes, but I could not find an overview over all the possibilities. What I
found are several documents which discuss one of the topics. Therefore
each topic has a section "Further Reading and Resources" which points to
some interesting articles.
>
> Steven.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> Criticisms:
>
> I found the introduction and titles too abstract, and after
> reading the memory/copying section, was wondering what the
> point was. Would a more concise intro ~like~ this help:
>
> "This document looks at the numerous and interesting ways
> the Linux kernel interacts with the user and user space programs.
> These include explanations of Sockets, Procfs and simliar
> virtual filesystems, creating new Kernel System calls,
> as well as mundane file and memory handling."
Thanks for this intro! I like it :-)
>
> I'd rename the
> "Read and Write Functions of RAM Based File Systems"
> section to
> "Procfs, Sysfs, and similar kernel interfaces"
ok
> and
> "System Call" to "Kernel System Calls"
ok
> and
> "Signals" -> "Terminating Processes and other Signals"
hm, there is not yet anything about terminating processes---
> Perhaps rename the doco to "Linux Kernel Interfaces" ???
> (if this is correct).
Maybe, but I'm not sure whether it is 100% accurate. It should somehow
reflect the fact, that it covers the interfaces exposed to the user
space and not the kernel internal interfaces. Maybe a better name would
be: "Linux Kernel Interfaces for User Space Applications"
>
> The signal section is way too abstract and short at the
> moment. Some examples here (and elsewhere?) would help.
Yes, I know. The sections at the end are too short.
The examples are mostly in the source files which are linked to the
document.
>
> An overview of sequential io filesystems would be very
> interesting.. though this might be too hard to do well in a
> short space and not fall within the scope of the doco.
In the section procfs there are some pointers to seqfile documentation
Thanks again for your feedback!
Ariane
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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