FEDORA 5 - Kernel Source Installation

1. On your system shell type uname -r
this will give you kernel version (example kernel-2.6.15-1.2054_FC5)
2. Download this version from fedora download site.
3. store it in /usr/src
4. go to /usr/src
type -> rpm -ivh Kernel-filename.src.rpm
type -> rpmbuild -bp --target=noarch /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/kernel-2.6.spec

your source get installed in /usr/src/redhat/BUILD

that is directory kernel-2.6.15 for example ,,,, for version 2.6.15.

*** In any case you get rpmbuild command not found something ,i mean, rpmbuild binary missing! I am not much sure about this but i got the same and then i installed again linux and then do everything from scratch.***

But rather it would be gr8 to solve the problem , instead of installing everything........ i did because i was in hurry ! .........
if neone of u find it let me know.

Device driver handlling In linux ! EASYYYY

The kernel interacts with I/O devices by means of device drivers. Device driver is just set of instructions (Program) that interacts with I/O devices. Device drivers are included in the kernel and consist of data structures and functions that control one or more devices,such as hard disks, keyboards, mouses, monitors, network interfaces, and devices connectedto a SCSI bus. Each driver interacts with the remaining part of the kernel (even with other drivers) through a specific interface.
This approach has the following advantages:

• Device-specific code can be encapsulated in a specific module.
• Vendors can add new devices without knowing the kernel source code: only the interface specifications must be known.
• The kernel deals with all devices in a uniform way and accesses them through the same interface.
• It is possible to write a device driver as a module that can be dynamically loaded in the kernel without requiring the system to be rebooted. It is also possible to dynamically unload a module that is no longer needed, thus minimizing the size of the kernel image stored in RAM


In the Linux world each device is treated as file and all device related files are stored in /dev directory.

Linux gains traction in software market

IBM's backing helps add more followers By Jon VanTribune staff reporterPublished July 24, 2006

When IBM introduced a version of Lotus Notes that runs on the desktop computers using the Linux operating system this month, it was a sign of confidence that open-source software is gaining market traction.Lotus Notes, the popular collaboration and e-mail software, has operated on Windows machines for 16 years and Apple's Mac computers for more than a decade, said Ed Brill, IBM's Chicago-based Lotus strategy executive."A lot of enterprises, especially government and educational organizations, like the cost and flexibility of Linux," he said. "This is geographically driven. Linux has taken off in Germany, India and China."Linux is what the industry calls open-source software. Led by Linus Torvalds when he was a computer-science graduate student at the University of Helsinki, Finland, a team of programmers from around the world developed the software that has its entire code open to programmers and developers, unlike proprietary software such as Windows. Users continue to maintain and upgrade Linux and allow it to be downloaded and used for free.Most enterprises that use Linux prefer to pay for commercial versions provided by Red Hat, Novell or other firms. These versions are more user-friendly, but they still cost about one-tenth of what Microsoft charges for Windows, the world's most pervasive computer operating system.Rather than compete with Microsoft by offering its own proprietary operating system, IBM has opted to support open-source software. Linux is perhaps the best-known example.Linux software has become a mainstream product for computer network servers, said Al Gillen, president for International Data Corp., a market research firm. But as a desktop computer operating system, it faces a huge challenge posed by the widespread embrace of Windows."There are some very good Linux operating systems out there," Gillen said. "You keep hearing that desktop Linux is the next big thing. But we've been hearing that for about five years now."Customers are looking at Linux and piloting it, but you don't see many big deployments."IBM's Brill said he sees open source software making inroads among the very largest enterprise customers and the smallest, "but it's not doing much yet in the middle."Except for computer hobbyists, Linux has no presence in the consumer market. Justin Steinman, Linux product marketing director for Novell, said that even though his company's latest Linux operating platform is aimed squarely at the enterprise customer, it contains many consumer-friendly features."Users want to know if it will play DVDs and CDs and whether they can use it to look at pictures of their kids," said Steinman. "When you load this onto a laptop that someone carries with him, you have to do those things. Even though it's intended for business, you're not going to just do that for the six hours it takes to fly from Boston to L.A."No one expects Linux to make a big dent in Microsoft's dominance in desktop operating systems, but trends that suggest Linux will enjoy "a gentle adoption curve," said Patrick Kerpan, a founder of the Chicago software start-up CohesiveFT.About one-third of today's workforce has been using computers since childhood, Kerpan noted, and they are more comfortable moving from one computer interface to another than older workers may be."They use cell phones, iPods, X-Boxes and on and on," he said. "Each machine has a different interface, and they don't care. They just tear into them."Another trend working to Linux's advantage, Kerpan said, is the spread of virtual computing. This allows a computer running software from Microsoft, Apple or any other operating system to create a window that thinks it's something different.Thus a machine running on Windows could at the same time have a part of it that runs Linux."In the past, switching to Linux was an all-or-nothing decision," said Kerpan. "But now it's possible to experiment with a new system without really changing your hard drive or making a big commitment."Even if there's no stampede among businesses to embrace desktop Linux, there is a lot of interest in it, said Fred Hock, president of the Illinois Information Technology Association."There's growing interest in it," said Hock. "People like the stability, security and simplicity of Linux."IDC's Gillen said there's another reason for business people to look at Linux as a Microsoft alternative. "Microsoft can be very aggressive about keeping its customers," he said. "If Microsoft thinks you're serious about jumping to Linux, they may start offering some really deep discounts to keep you."

For Today!

Nothing ..Its sunday so enjoy and i will for sure post some good stuffs for the upcoming week!

good Thougths....

Hardwork, Sincerity and Decipline are always find their way to the door of oppotunities.

Mathematics is not process of Imagination, its real work with the numbers and it always leads to some solution.

OS is the program that handeles all the hardwares and software, manage all the resources (CPU , memory ). Kernel is the Heart of OS. Kernel is not a process. It is Process manager. Kernel is set of ISR (Interrupt Service Routine) . So when user process wants service from kernel it cause Interrupt. This is called software interrupt. and then CPU mode changes from user mode to kernel mode. Kernel serves the process with already written ISR. and once finish the control returns to User mode and start process from the interupted point.

So you can call Kernel as Server and all processes as clients. There are multiple clients
some times wants the same sercvices . Its the responsibility of Server to handle this situation.
(multiprocessing)
............................................. Dont worry Linux Kernel perform this very well !

Few Facts about Linux/Unix

Linux is free.
You can install a complete Unix system at no expense other than the hardware (of course).

Understanding the Linux Kernel 9
Linux is fully customizable in all its components. Thanks to the General Public License (GPL), you are allowed to freely read and modify the source code of the kernel and of all system programs. Several commercial companies have started to support their products under Linux, most of which aren't distributed under a GNU Public License. Therefore, you may not be allowed to read or modify their source code.

Linux runs on low-end, cheap hardware platforms.
You can even build a network server using an old Intel 80386 system with 4 MB of RAM.

Linux is powerful.
Linux systems are very fast, since they fully exploit the features of the hardware components. The main Linux target is efficiency, and indeed many design choices of commercial variants, like the STREAMS I/O subsystem, have been rejected by Linus because of their implied performance penalty.

Linux has a high standard for source code quality.
Linux systems are usually very stable; they have a very low failure rate and system maintenance time.

The Linux kernel can be very small and compact.
Indeed, it is possible to fit both a kernel image and full root filesystem, including all fundamental system programs, on just one 1.4 MB floppy disk! As far as we know, none of the commercial Unix variants is able to boot from a single floppy disk. Linux is highly compatible with many common operating systems It lets you directly mount filesystems for all versions of MS-DOS and MS Windows, SVR4, OS/2, Mac OS, Solaris, SunOS, NeXTSTEP, many BSD variants, and so on.

Linux is also able to operate with many network layers like Ethernet, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), High Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI), IBM's Token Ring, AT&T WaveLAN, DEC RoamAbout DS, and so forth. By using suitable libraries, Linux systems are even able to directly run programs written for other operating systems. For example, Linux is able to execute applications written for MSDOS, MS Windows, SVR3 and R4, 4.4BSD, SCO Unix, XENIX, and others on the Intel 80x86 platform.

Linux is well supported.

Believe it or not, it may be a lot easier to get patches and updates for Linux than for any proprietary operating system! The answer to a problem often comes back within a few hours after sending a message to some newsgroup or mailing list. Moreover, drivers for Linux are usually available a few weeks after new hardware products have been introduced on the market. By contrast, hardware manufacturers release device drivers for only a few commercial operating systems, usually the Microsoft ones.

Scattering the kernel parts

Linux inside!

Read the Kernel Data structures and concepts.

http://www.sti.uniurb.it/acquaviva/ulk.pdf

How to install a Kernel and configure it!

You can get the kernel source from www.kernel.org , Download the latest kernel in /usr/src directory. And then use the tar command to unzipp(unpacked) the source. Once you finish with tar command u ll get linux-2.v.v.v directory in /usr/src .

here u go.....

use following command to build new installed kernel.

cd /usr/src/linuc-2.v.v
make oldconfig
make
make module_install
make install

ok now reboot yr linux Box and u done!

Linux World

Linux usually complies the code to install a software. But to save time of the user there are also some pre build packages available called binary files (.bin).They are pre compiled and takes lesser time to get installed.If you want to install from source code then you can find the tarball (zipped) of those softwares. So first we need to unzip that using command “$tar -xvzpf or tar -xvjpf”. We will find a configure file in that directory. Run that configure file and then to complile we need to use “make && make install” command.

RPM (RPM Package Manager)A RPM package contains a library of files with the description of the location where the files have to be copied. It also contains a general description of the package. An other interesting characteristic of RPM is that he checks for dependencies.
The command rpm (Install RPM package using konsole)

* To install sanjay.rpm, typerpm -ivh sanjay.rpm*Remeber it will install the package not upgrade the package.
* To uninstall the package sanjay, typerpm -e sanjay
* To query information about the package sanjay (already installed), typerpm -qi sanjay
* To query information about the package file sanjay.rpm, typerpm -qip sanjay.rpm
* To query the file listing in the package sanjay, if already installed, typerpm -ql sanjay
* To query the file listing in the package file sanjay.rpm, typerpm -qlp sanjay.rpm
* To update the package sanjay, typerpm -U sanjay.rpm
* To identify the package whose the file sanjayfile is belonging, typerpm -qf sanjayfile
* The one which always works (90%case)rpm -Uvh sanjay.rpm Tar.gz Package:
An archiving program designed to store and extract files from an archive file known as a tarfile
* You will basically find two type of tar files tar.gz and tar.gz2
* To unzip tar.gz we can usetar -xvzpf filename.tar.gz
* To unzip tar.gz2 we can usetar -jxvf filename.tar.gz2
* After that a directory will be formed in which you will find a file named “configure”. Now you need to compile that file. you can compile it using the command make
* After compiling (make) you need to install that we can do that using command
make install
* So in short we need to do as following
tar -xvzpf filename.tarcd filename./configuremakemake install

" Ya its true that we have to divide our time between politics and equations of life. But for me equations are far more important than politics. For politics just the matter of present concerns, while mathematical Equations last forever. "