CIT 128, Blog # 2, This is a short description of the Linux kernel.

This is a short description of the Linux kernel.

The Linux kernel is the core of the Linux operating system. It is an enormous mass of software (over 6,000,000 lines of code), that allows different applications to be run at the same time, on the same computer. Although the Linux kernel can be considered one large system, and does occupy a single address space on the hard drive, in reality it is made up of many subsystems that manage different processes, such as memory management, communication management or device drivers. Before the development of the Linux kernel (or similar operating systems) it was necessary for programmers to develop only in the particular machines language, with only one user or application being run at a time. This was particularly cumbersome, difficult and inefficient.