discuss: Thread: user space - kernel space howto

Hi all

I 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/

Some parts are still missing, and the writing needs some improvement.
But I wonder, whether you think the structure is useful and whether all 
topics are covered.

I'm looking forward for any comments!

Thanks a lot!

Ariane

>  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.
Would it be possible to post a single page version as well ?

Have you checked for similar stuff around the web ?

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."

I'd rename the
"Read and Write Functions of RAM Based File Systems"
section to
"Procfs, Sysfs, and similar kernel interfaces"
and
"System Call" to "Kernel System Calls"
and
"Signals" -> "Terminating Processes and other Signals"
Perhaps rename the doco to "Linux Kernel Interfaces" ???
(if this is correct).

The signal section is way too abstract and short at the
moment. Some examples here (and elsewhere?) would help.

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.

       
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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

> 
>        
> ---------------------------------
> Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.