Most books and courses introduce Linux through shell commands, leaving the kernel as a mysterious black box doing magic behind the scenes. In this post, we will run some experiments to demystify it: the Linux kernel is just a binary that you can build and run.
Says “kernel runs just like any other program” and proceeds to launch a VM to run it, because it would “mess up the system” otherwise. I liked the article, but it feels like it’s leaving out the critical piece.
That was my reaction as well. It’s a fun headline, but a kernel is not “just a program”. To try to assert it’s like a normal program forces you to question your definition of a program. If I hold a voltimeter and switch between hot and cold wires, am I a program now?
Says “kernel runs just like any other program” and proceeds to launch a VM to run it, because it would “mess up the system” otherwise. I liked the article, but it feels like it’s leaving out the critical piece.
That was my reaction as well. It’s a fun headline, but a kernel is not “just a program”. To try to assert it’s like a normal program forces you to question your definition of a program. If I hold a voltimeter and switch between hot and cold wires, am I a program now?
I’d say you are one without the silly gadgets.