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> Wow, online resources on this stuff are terrible. I've been thinking this a lot lately, searching for things like: a detailed block diagram of the Linux kern

by gary_0 3y ago

> Wow, online resources on this stuff are terrible. I've been thinking this a lot lately, searching for things like: a detailed block diagram of the Linux kernel, how page tables work, a comparison of function call ABIs on different platforms, details about low-level network protocols, reserved Linux PID numbers, etc. Occasionally I would find a Reddit thread with an answer, but it was mixed in with the usual Reddit dross, and I doubt that Reddit is a reliable place to store knowledge. StackOverflow was particularly unhelpful, as the questions are mostly oriented around accomplishing particular tasks, and the answers are necessarily brief. Nowadays, for general knowledge, I skip Google's enshittified search and go straight to Wikipedia, but Wikipedia has limits on how much detail it will go into about technical topics. I wonder if there's a need for a comprehensive wiki for all the details of computer guts? There are lots of scattered resources, but having them all compiled in one place would be awesome.

cpach 3y ago
A wiki for operating system internals. I like this idea!
- gary_0 3y ago
  Not just operating systems, but everything that goes on under the application layer! All the way down to the bits living in the CPU registers and going out the PCIe/USB/Ethernet ports. Another thought: a focus on staying up to date would be important. A lot of information about system internals I find is actually historical, and while that's useful sometimes, it's still a pretty big gap. Modern systems are quite poorly documented.
  - cpach 3y ago
    “Modern systems are quite poorly documented” Hate to say it, but you’re probably very right.
  - archmaster 3y ago
    Three things - https://wiki.osdev.org/Expanded_Main_Page https://wiki.osdev.org/Expanded_Main_Page is quite good or at least a starting place. It's very x86-centric, though, and doesn't have a lot of coverage. Also, a decent portion is out of date. I used it a decent amount as at least a component of my research for You in CPU. Agree that modern systems are even more terribly documented than systems in general. So many of the resources I found, even recent ones, were referring to stuff from the original x86 that had long changed. Almost everything I found about ELF or memory layout assumed the memory space was 4 GiB. Finally, I hope Putting the "You" in CPU gets well-SEOed if only so people like me Googling for modern answers to these questions will find at least something. I tried to make everything as relevant to modern day tech as possible, and to link to up-to-date resources.

by gary_0 3y ago

cpach 3y ago

A wiki for operating system internals. I like this idea!

gary_0 3y ago
Not just operating systems, but everything that goes on under the application layer! All the way down to the bits living in the CPU registers and going out the PCIe/USB/Ethernet ports. Another thought: a focus on staying up to date would be important. A lot of information about system internals I find is actually historical, and while that's useful sometimes, it's still a pretty big gap. Modern systems are quite poorly documented.
- cpach 3y ago
  “Modern systems are quite poorly documented” Hate to say it, but you’re probably very right.
- archmaster 3y ago
  Three things - https://wiki.osdev.org/Expanded_Main_Page https://wiki.osdev.org/Expanded_Main_Page is quite good or at least a starting place. It's very x86-centric, though, and doesn't have a lot of coverage. Also, a decent portion is out of date. I used it a decent amount as at least a component of my research for You in CPU. Agree that modern systems are even more terribly documented than systems in general. So many of the resources I found, even recent ones, were referring to stuff from the original x86 that had long changed. Almost everything I found about ELF or memory layout assumed the memory space was 4 GiB. Finally, I hope Putting the "You" in CPU gets well-SEOed if only so people like me Googling for modern answers to these questions will find at least something. I tried to make everything as relevant to modern day tech as possible, and to link to up-to-date resources.