Linux: kernel Part - 1

This is the first discussion about kernel and its workings in Linux:

-the kernel is written mostly in C, with some assembly level language.
-all major flavors of linux and unix are monolithic.
-in monolithic kernels, the entire os runs in the kernel space -- a section of memory reserved for privileged os functions.
-in monolithic kernels, device drivers, ipc, vm, scheduler -- all run in the same address space.
-in contrast, in microkernel arch, some of the services run in user space, ie as os processes.

-in linux, the kernel resides in /vmlinuz dir or /boot/vmlinuz.
-in linux, the kernel source build dir is /usr/src/linux.

-a device driver is a program that manages the systems interaction with a particular type of h/w.
-it translates h/w cmds to kernel instructions & vice versa.
-device drivers keep the kernel relatively device independent.
-device drivers are part of the kernel not user processes but they can be accessed via both kernel or user space.
-this is done with the use of special device files that live in the /dev dir.
-device drivers are system specific.
-they are written by hardware vendors for a certain system.
-h/w vendors are becoming aware of linux market and sometimes provide linux specific drivers for their products.
-ideally, h/w vendors provide both the drivers and the installation instructions.