Field guide · GNU/Linux operating system

From silicon to shell — every layer of the operating system, mapped and clickable.

Three layers stacked the way Linux actually layers in memory: user programs at top can't speak to hardware directly, the kernel is the only thing that can, and the two narrow strips between them — system calls and hardware abstraction — are the real interfaces.

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User space
unprivileged · ring 3
▲
Syscall
interface
openreadwriteforkmmapsocketioctl
▼
Kernel space
privileged · ring 0
Device drivers
Translate kernel requests into hardware operations
block · char · net
▲
Hardware
abstraction
IRQMMIODMAPCIe queues
▼
Hardware
physical components
Concepts · dive deeper
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Glossary
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