Book Review: Linux Kernel Development, 2nd Edition

Robert Love
(c)2005 Pearson Education Inc.
ISBN:0-672-32720-1
MSRP:$44.99

It's very nice to see a good technical book from somebody either than O'Reilly. As the title suggests, Linux Kernel Development concerns itself with the inner workings of the kernel. But it also gives a valuable insight into the development process itself. This second edition covers the 2.6 Kernel series, and is up to date as of release 2.6.10.

This book does a very good job showing the underpinnings of the various subsystems that come together to make the kernel one cohesive whole. Whether the topic be kernel timers, or system calls, LKD covers it. One thing to note, however, is that the learning curve is rather steep. After a few introductory notes in the first chapter, and the next chapter on building the kernel, Chapter 3 dives headfirst into C code, and never looks back.

If you're the type who needs lots of examples, you'll find this book to be rather lacking in that department. Examples are few and far between, however they are usually explained rather well. The converse to this is that with a subject matter such as kernel hacking, the /usr/src/linux directory is all the example that is required. There are plenty of short code snippets however, but as I said, full, fleshed out programs are very rare.

Another thing that potential readers should note is that the scope of the book is rather limited. I think that it is best read in conjunction with, or after reading other sources of documentation on the kernel and the general principle of it. A good place to start is the Documentation/ directory found in the kernel source tree itself. While the book can stand on its own, I think that supplementing it with information from outside references would be a more effective strategy for learning the ins and outs of kernel development.

That being said, I think that Linux Kernel Development has left me with a good impression of Novell Press. I award this book 4.5 out of a possible 5 penguins.