I did something recently I haven’t done in a long time: I recompiled the Linux kernel. There was a time when this was a common occurrence. You might want a feature that the default kernel didn’t ...

Editor's Note: Linux remains an attractive option for embedded systems developers. In fact, industry surveys such as the Embedded Market Study by UBM (EDN's parent company) consistently show interest ...

Have you ever felt the urge to make your own private binary format for use in Linux? Perhaps you have looked at creating the smallest possible binary when compiling a project, and felt disgusted with ...

When you write programs in user space, the worst thing that can happen to your program is a core dump. Your program did something very wrong, so the operating system decided to give you all of its ...

Kernel modules are chunks of code that are loaded and unloaded into the kernel as needed, thus extending the functionality of the kernel without requiring a reboot. In fact, unless users inquire about ...

Signed kernel modules have been a feature of other operating systems for a number of years. Some people and companies like the idea of installing only modules (or drivers, as they are sometimes called ...

More than 135 Linux kernel developers have signed a document in protest of vendors that create closed-source code modules for the kernel, calling the practice “harmful and undesirable.” The developers ...

Up until about 10 years ago I wrote a lot of Linux device drivers. The last one I wrote was in '03, needless to say I'm out of practice (and out of date, that was for a 2.4 kernel). I've got 2 ...