Yep, although most linux dists now have "/dev/mem protection" meaning that on stock distro kernels (Ubuntu, CentOS, etc), access to actual "physical memory" is

Yep, although most linux dists now have "/dev/mem protection" meaning that on stock distro kernels (Ubuntu, CentOS, etc), access to actual "physical memory" is disabled. Ref: http://lwn.net/Articles/267427/ http://lwn.net/Articles/267427/ OK for driver development. If you need access to physical memory you have to compile a kernel with unrestricted /dev/mem.