The Kernel and Its Purpose
The kernel is a special piece of software that serves as the core of the operating system. Among other things, it controls how users interact with the hardware and how resources are allocated for software. In addition, the kernel implements network communications so that the computer can communicate with other computers over the LAN or the Internet. When a running program misbehaves, it is the kernel's job to keep it from interfering with the operation of other programs, or from crashing the system. Figure 10.1 shows a simple diagram of how the kernel relates to the hardware and other running software.
Figure 10.1. The kernel isolates software and users from the hardware and thus controls access to system resources. ...
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