Operating System and Kernel Basics

humbert

Recently I was reading about Sven Killig's work getting USB OTG working for the N1 and while I broadly understood what was going on I was well out of my depth.

I would very much like to find a book on operating system basics with unix in mind but general enough to be applicable to any OS design (at a basic level not covering every kernel architecture or anything like that). I have looked at some books on embedded operating systems but couldn't quite settle on one.

What I'm looking to achieve is the same sort of understanding of programming I gained from learning assembly but for operating systems.

I know it's a very broad topic but if anyone has experience and would like to make a recommendation it would be appreciated!

rfrederick

I'd recommend Andrew Tanenbaum's books on operating systems:

Modern Operating Systems
Operating Systems: Design and Implementation

Tanenbaum's books are widely used for introductory operating systems classes (at least in my experience).

humbert

rfrederick wrote: »

I'd recommend Andrew Tanenbaum's books on operating systems:

Modern Operating Systems
Operating Systems: Design and Implementation

Tanenbaum's books are widely used for introductory operating systems classes (at least in my experience).

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check them out!

Zombrex

rfrederick wrote: »

I'd recommend Andrew Tanenbaum's books on operating systems:

Modern Operating Systems
Operating Systems: Design and Implementation

Tanenbaum's books are widely used for introductory operating systems classes (at least in my experience).

seconded, Tanenbaum's books are the college bibles of OS design.

Something to keep in mind.

The 1st and 2nd editions of "OS Design and Implementation" Tannenbaum explains the principles through his own operating systems Mimix 1 and 2.

Mimix is a famous as being a teaching OS, ie not particularly practical but used for learning OS design. Linux was originally developed based on Mimix.

In the 3rd edition (2006) he still uses Mimix but Mimix 3 which was a large redesign that focuses on more modern OS principles like micro-kernels, rather than macro-kernals like the original Mimix and Linux (and most other operating systems in wide spread use)

Something to keep in mind, it is quite a fundamental shift between edition 2 and 3. You probably can't even find 1st and 2nd edition copies any more so it might be a moot point.

evercloserunion

Wicknight wrote: »

seconded, Tanenbaum's books are the college bibles of OS design.

Something to keep in mind.

The 1st and 2nd editions of "OS Design and Implementation" Tannenbaum explains the principles through his own operating systems Mimix 1 and 2.

Mimix is a famous as being a teaching OS, ie not particularly practical but used for learning OS design. Linux was originally developed based on Mimix.

In the 3rd edition (2006) he still uses Mimix but Mimix 3 which was a large redesign that focuses on more modern OS principles like micro-kernels, rather than macro-kernals like the original Mimix and Linux (and most other operating systems in wide spread use)

Something to keep in mind, it is quite a fundamental shift between edition 2 and 3. You probably can't even find 1st and 2nd edition copies any more so it might be a moot point.

An interesting and entertaining look into the differences between the two operating systems (and their authors): http://www.dina.dk/~abraham/Linus_vs_Tanenbaum.html

Naikon

Wicknight wrote: »

seconded, Tanenbaum's books are the college bibles of OS design.

Something to keep in mind.

The 1st and 2nd editions of "OS Design and Implementation" Tannenbaum explains the principles through his own operating systems Mimix 1 and 2.

Mimix is a famous as being a teaching OS, ie not particularly practical but used for learning OS design. Linux was originally developed based on Mimix.

In the 3rd edition (2006) he still uses Mimix but Mimix 3 which was a large redesign that focuses on more modern OS principles like micro-kernels, rather than macro-kernals like the original Mimix and Linux (and most other operating systems in wide spread use)

Something to keep in mind, it is quite a fundamental shift between edition 2 and 3. You probably can't even find 1st and 2nd edition copies any more so it might be a moot point.

MINIX! Sorry man, haid to be pointed out:pac:

/arseholery

rfrederick

Wicknight wrote: »

Mimix is a famous as being a teaching OS, ie not particularly practical but used for learning OS design.

Very true. In fact I believe that in the first two editions Minix was a direct implementation of the coding examples in the book.