The difference is domain knowledge, it takes time. You might feel that way about kernel because the high level concept of resource management is pervasive in pr

The difference is domain knowledge, it takes time. You might feel that way about kernel because the high level concept of resource management is pervasive in programming. So you might feel you can easily dive into it, but it will take you equally long to say port the kernel to a new architecture/write drivers for a new platform.