1 .. _kernel_docs:
2
3 Index of Further Kernel Documentation
4 =====================================
5
6 The need for a document like this one became apparent in the linux-kernel
7 mailing list as the same questions, asking for pointers to information,
8 appeared again and again.
9
10 Fortunately, as more and more people get to GNU/Linux, more and more get
11 interested in the Kernel. But reading the sources is not always enough. It
12 is easy to understand the code, but miss the concepts, the philosophy and
13 design decisions behind this code.
14
15 Unfortunately, not many documents are available for beginners to start.
16 And, even if they exist, there was no "well-known" place which kept track
17 of them. These lines try to cover this lack.
18
19 PLEASE, if you know any paper not listed here or write a new document,
20 include a reference to it here, following the kernel's patch submission
21 process. Any corrections, ideas or comments are also welcome.
22
23 All documents are cataloged with the following fields: the document's
24 "Title", the "Author"/s, the "URL" where they can be found, some "Keywords"
25 helpful when searching for specific topics, and a brief "Description" of
26 the Document.
27
28 .. note::
29
30 The documents on each section of this document are ordered by its
31 published date, from the newest to the oldest. The maintainer(s) should
32 periodically retire resources as they become obsolete or outdated; with
33 the exception of foundational books.
34
35 Docs at the Linux Kernel tree
36 -----------------------------
37
38 The Sphinx books should be built with ``make {htmldocs | pdfdocs | epubdocs}``.
39
40 * Name: **linux/Documentation**
41
42 :Author: Many.
43 :Location: Documentation/
44 :Keywords: text files, Sphinx.
45 :Description: Documentation that comes with the kernel sources,
46 inside the Documentation directory. Some pages from this document
47 (including this document itself) have been moved there, and might
48 be more up to date than the web version.
49
50 On-line docs
51 ------------
52
53 * Title: **Linux Kernel Mailing List Glossary**
54
55 :Author: various
56 :URL: https://kernelnewbies.org/KernelGlossary
57 :Date: rolling version
58 :Keywords: glossary, terms, linux-kernel.
59 :Description: From the introduction: "This glossary is intended as
60 a brief description of some of the acronyms and terms you may hear
61 during discussion of the Linux kernel".
62
63 * Title: **The Linux Kernel Module Programming Guide**
64
65 :Author: Peter Jay Salzman, Michael Burian, Ori Pomerantz, Bob Mottram,
66 Jim Huang.
67 :URL: https://sysprog21.github.io/lkmpg/
68 :Date: 2021
69 :Keywords: modules, GPL book, /proc, ioctls, system calls,
70 interrupt handlers .
71 :Description: A very nice GPL book on the topic of modules
72 programming. Lots of examples. Currently the new version is being
73 actively maintained at https://github.com/sysprog21/lkmpg.
74
75 * Title: **Rust for Linux**
76
77 :Author: various
78 :URL: https://rust-for-linux.com/
79 :Date: rolling version
80 :Keywords: glossary, terms, linux-kernel.
81 :Description: From the website: "Rust for Linux is the project adding
82 support for the Rust language to the Linux kernel. This website is
83 intended as a hub of links, documentation and resources related to
84 the project".
85
86 Published books
87 ---------------
88
89 * Title: **Practical Linux System Administration: A Guide to Installation, Configuration, and Management, 1st Edition**
90
91 :Author: Kenneth Hess
92 :Publisher: O'Reilly Media
93 :Date: May, 2023
94 :Pages: 246
95 :ISBN: 978-1098109035
96 :Notes: System administration
97
98 * Title: **Linux Kernel Debugging: Leverage proven tools and advanced techniques to effectively debug Linux kernels and kernel modules**
99
100 :Author: Kaiwan N Billimoria
101 :Publisher: Packt Publishing Ltd
102 :Date: August, 2022
103 :Pages: 638
104 :ISBN: 978-1801075039
105 :Notes: Debugging book
106
107 * Title: **Linux Kernel Programming: A Comprehensive Guide to Kernel Internals, Writing Kernel Modules, and Kernel Synchronization**
108
109 :Author: Kaiwan N Billimoria
110 :Publisher: Packt Publishing Ltd
111 :Date: March, 2021 (Second Edition published in 2024)
112 :Pages: 754
113 :ISBN: 978-1789953435 (Second Edition ISBN is 978-1803232225)
114
115 * Title: **Linux Kernel Programming Part 2 - Char Device Drivers and Kernel Synchronization: Create user-kernel interfaces, work with peripheral I/O, and handle hardware interrupts**
116
117 :Author: Kaiwan N Billimoria
118 :Publisher: Packt Publishing Ltd
119 :Date: March, 2021
120 :Pages: 452
121 :ISBN: 978-1801079518
122
123 * Title: **Linux System Programming: Talking Directly to the Kernel and C Library**
124
125 :Author: Robert Love
126 :Publisher: O'Reilly Media
127 :Date: June, 2013
128 :Pages: 456
129 :ISBN: 978-1449339531
130 :Notes: Foundational book
131
132 * Title: **Linux Kernel Development, 3rd Edition**
133
134 :Author: Robert Love
135 :Publisher: Addison-Wesley
136 :Date: July, 2010
137 :Pages: 440
138 :ISBN: 978-0672329463
139 :Notes: Foundational book
140
141 .. _ldd3_published:
142
143 * Title: **Linux Device Drivers, 3rd Edition**
144
145 :Authors: Jonathan Corbet, Alessandro Rubini, and Greg Kroah-Hartman
146 :Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates
147 :Date: 2005
148 :Pages: 636
149 :ISBN: 0-596-00590-3
150 :Notes: Foundational book. Further information in
151 http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/linuxdrive3/
152 PDF format, URL: https://lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3/
153
154 * Title: **The Design of the UNIX Operating System**
155
156 :Author: Maurice J. Bach
157 :Publisher: Prentice Hall
158 :Date: 1986
159 :Pages: 471
160 :ISBN: 0-13-201757-1
161 :Notes: Foundational book
162
163 Miscellaneous
164 -------------
165
166 * Name: **Cross-Referencing Linux**
167
168 :URL: https://elixir.bootlin.com/
169 :Keywords: Browsing source code.
170 :Description: Another web-based Linux kernel source code browser.
171 Lots of cross references to variables and functions. You can see
172 where they are defined and where they are used.
173
174 * Name: **Linux Weekly News**
175
176 :URL: https://lwn.net
177 :Keywords: latest kernel news.
178 :Description: The title says it all. There's a fixed kernel section
179 summarizing developers' work, bug fixes, new features and versions
180 produced during the week.
181
182 * Name: **The home page of Linux-MM**
183
184 :Author: The Linux-MM team.
185 :URL: https://linux-mm.org/
186 :Keywords: memory management, Linux-MM, mm patches, TODO, docs,
187 mailing list.
188 :Description: Site devoted to Linux Memory Management development.
189 Memory related patches, HOWTOs, links, mm developers... Don't miss
190 it if you are interested in memory management development!
191
192 * Name: **Kernel Newbies IRC Channel and Website**
193
194 :URL: https://www.kernelnewbies.org
195 :Keywords: IRC, newbies, channel, asking doubts.
196 :Description: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net.
197 #kernelnewbies is an IRC network dedicated to the 'newbie'
198 kernel hacker. The audience mostly consists of people who are
199 learning about the kernel, working on kernel projects or
200 professional kernel hackers that want to help less seasoned kernel
201 people.
202 #kernelnewbies is on the OFTC IRC Network.
203 Try irc.oftc.net as your server and then /join #kernelnewbies.
204 The kernelnewbies website also hosts articles, documents, FAQs...
205
206 * Name: **linux-kernel mailing list archives and search engines**
207
208 :URL: https://subspace.kernel.org
209 :URL: https://lore.kernel.org
210 :Keywords: linux-kernel, archives, search.
211 :Description: Some of the linux-kernel mailing list archivers. If
212 you have a better/another one, please let me know.
213
214 * Name: **The Linux Foundation YouTube channel**
215
216 :URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/thelinuxfoundation
217 :Keywords: linux, videos, linux-foundation, youtube.
218 :Description: The Linux Foundation uploads video recordings of their
219 collaborative events, Linux conferences including LinuxCon, and
220 other original research and content related to Linux and software
221 development.
222
223 -------
224
225 This document was originally based on:
226
227 https://www.dit.upm.es/~jmseyas/linux/kernel/hackers-docs.html
228
229 and written by Juan-Mariano de Goyeneche
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