Linux Kernel Projects

Hands-on Linux kernel programming projects demonstrating progressively deeper kernel concepts.

Projects

01 - Hello World Kernel Module

Basic kernel module lifecycle - init, exit, printk. Foundation of every Linux device driver.

02 - /proc Filesystem Driver

Custom /proc entry exposing system metrics from kernel. Connects to userspace Linux system monitor project.

03 - Character Device Driver

Virtual hardware accelerator with ioctl interface. Same pattern used in GPU and HPC accelerator drivers.

04 - Slab Memory Allocator

User space implementation of Linux kernel slab allocator. Demonstrates kmalloc/kfree concepts and memory management.

Environment

• Ubuntu Linux (Lima VM on macOS)
• Kernel: 6.17.0-14-generic
• Build: Linux Kbuild system + gcc

Reading

• Linux Kernel Development - Robert Love
• The Linux Programming Interface - Kerrisk
• Linux Device Drivers - Corbet, Rubini, Kroah-Hartman (free at lwn.net/Kernel/LDD3)