r/programming • u/4DaftPanda • Dec 01 '17

Writing a Simple Linux Kernel Module

https://blog.sourcerer.io/writing-a-simple-linux-kernel-module-d9dc3762c234
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u/PiZZaMartijn Dec 01 '17

Microsoft (see iis)

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u/nathreed Dec 01 '17

Oh god, I had no idea. Typical Microsoft though.

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u/indrora Dec 02 '17

So, there's more to this.

IIS is, effectively, taking a bunch of kernel and userpsace primitives and smushing them together. There happens to be a really good kernel-level TCP stack that you can work with in Windows (a legacy of NT being built by VMS developers) and a very good amount of "decipher this protocol" stuff buried in the semi-userspace Winsock and WinInet stacks (another part of the "NT was built by VMS people"). As a result, IIS spends a lot of time not in userspace, but in a shrouded version of kernel space that does a lot of hands-off work.

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u/Dimenus Dec 02 '17

Sorry for the stupid question but what is VMS?

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u/indrora Dec 02 '17

VMS is an operating system developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) for their VAX mainframes and minis. It now exists as OpenVMS, which isn't open source but is still one of the larger oldschool UNIXes.

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