What is Linux Kernel?

Posted on Sep 2, 2008 01:11:44 AM

Kernel is heart of Linux operating system. It manages resource of Linux. Resources include facilities available in Linux:

* File management
* Multitasking
* Memory management
* I/O management
* Process management
* Device management
* Networking support including IPv4 and IPv6
* Advanced features such as virtual memory, shared libraries, demand loading, shared copy-on-write executables etc

Kernel decides who will use these resources and for how long and when. It runs your programs or set up to execute binary files.

The kernel acts as an intermediary between the computer hardware and various programs/application/shell.