The Linux Kernel Explained (1999) | Hacker News Reader

The Linux Kernel Explained (1999)

tldp.org

88 pointsluu27 comments

it's only going to be useful to understand how a kernel works, as an overview. But the specifics (ext2?) are horribly dated.

Much of the kernel has changed but a lot of the info on PC hardware is still pretty accurate; e.g. the description of PCI still applies even to PCI-E which is largely backwards-compatible at the software level despite being completely different hardware-wise. (Minor error I noticed in the PCI section: no 8080-based system had ISA, that and the fixed I/O port assignments started with the 8088 in the IBM PC; or more precisely the 286-based PC/AT.)

Clicking on [1] was a fun nostalgia trip. ISA slots, a blast from the past.

[1] http://www.tldp.org/LDP/tlk/basics/hw.html

my favorite part about this is the "show frames" version of the page. now thats what made this a real 1999 read for me.

edit: from a UX perspective having the frames enabled was actually quite nice. I am sure there are tons of new ways to do this these days with AJAX / JS / CSS but not too shabby.

I agree the frames are quite nice; they're also the simplest way to get this functionality, and doing it any other way would probably entail far more work and complexity with an end-result that isn't as portable (e.g. no JS, text-mode browser, etc.)

The content:styling ratio is also a lot higher, and IMHO that's a good thing for this type of content.

Is there an updated version of this?

I would kill for a PDF version.

http://cmp.felk.cvut.cz/~pisa/linux/tlk-0.8-3.pdf

you just backed him into a corner based on the threat made!

He can kill time now by reading it.

Oh, believe me, I'm no stranger to fights. Luckily never had to kill someone before, though.

nice read

Wow. Nice downvote there. Good job guy. I can't comment on a post I want to read later. Thanks for that.

Lol. Let's cyberbully the new guy

I didn't downvote you, but one reason some people did might be that if all you have to say is "nice read", you can just upvote the post. Downvotes are a way of conveying what sorts of comments the HN community does not see as adding any value to the conversation. (I realize people don't always use them that way, but it's still worth considering that view of it.)

I upvote many posts though. I generally only comment on the one's I find most interesting. I would not be able to find the post again looking though everything I upvote.

No worries though. I won't be bothering you guys with my upvotes and comments any longer. You regulars can down vote everything I ever posted if you like. It's clear n00bs aren't welcome here. I won't be coming back to your site.

> I upvote many posts though. I generally only comment on the one's I find most interesting.

That's actually part of the point of making a story you upvote go into "saved stories": to encourage you to only upvote the stories you actually find interesting enough to return to.

My first response was "what are saved stories"? Then I looked in my profile and found the link. It would be really nice if that link were in the bar at the top of the HN page, like "threads" is.

> I would not be able to find the post again looking though everything I upvote.

I understand the desire to be able to find the post again; however, the fact remains that that's not what comments are designed for. You can't exactly blame other users for treating comments the way they were designed to be treated.

That said, I have to agree that being able to "bookmark" posts without having to risk being downvoted would be a useful feature. I've submitted an "Ask HN" post to see how many other users feel the same way:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8118469

What if everyone commented on an article, so they could re-read it later?

Come on, I know you guys have a few more down votes. Make yourselves proud.

I've never seen someone so butthurt to get downvoted...

The HN community takes a rather strict approach when moderating comments that contribute noise to the conversation. "Nice article!" comments are routinely downvoted. As is sarcasm, witticisms, memes, references and other styles of comments that occur frequently but do not contribute to the discussion. It's a knowingly doomed attempt to hold back the flood of noise that covers Reddit.

So, yes you are able to make an empty comment as a bookmark for yourself that is visible to everyone. But, you should expect it to be downvoted to invisibility.

Thanks, I actually didn't know about sarcasm and wit being frowned upon (is it documented somewhere) - this helps explain why an earlier comment of mine[0] which I considered a valid counterpoint to the parent was downvoted.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7351540

> Wow. Nice downvote there. Good job guy. I can't comment on a post I want to read later. Thanks for that.

For this you have Pocket[1], which has as a main benefit that it doesn't pollute the discussion for everyone else.

As an added bonus it even syncs the stuff offline on your phone and tablet!

[1] http://getpocket.com

OK, this may be a a little-known feature but HN has this built in. Go to https://news.ycombinator.com/saved?id=cowbell and you can see all the stories that you've upvoted. That way you don't have to leave bookmark-comments.

Edit: P.S. Usernames here are small and grey. Probably no one looked at your username before downvoting that first comment. If I made comments like the ones you've made I'd get downvoted too, because no one knows or cares that I have 26k karma.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com