643
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2024
643 points (98.8% liked)
Memes
45660 readers
1095 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
And if anything qualifies as esoteric, arcane knowledge, it's embedded systems programming
I'd say OS and driver programming is also in that category. It is the deep magic.
True, true. I have a vague idea how embedded systems work. I have no idea how you even get started with driver development.
OS development isn't terrible though. There are numerous books to help you make your own kernel and OS
For linux driver development you can start by reading "Linux Device Drivers, Third Edition" pdf.
It is free and give you an idea about how everything works.
The real learning is by reading and using the linux kernel api doc or directly the source code of the api you want to call.
Source : i did this for a school project where i had to implement multiple kernel modules.
Neat! I'll add it to my long list of things ADHD will never let me finish!
I think the real issue with driver development is that almost nobody ever has a reason to do it. It's a much more constrained way of programming compared to normal programs, and isn't necessary unless you need to talk to hardware or something. So, nobody has an excuse to learn it.
... Unless you want to talk to hardware. Or something.
Yes... as I said. But, most people use hardware provided by other people, which means other people write the drivers.
Yes, and those people are people.
Also, sometimes the drivers are total garbage, and other people have to rewrite the garbage from the first people.
Also also, sometimes there is no driver.
“There are lots of books on harvesting your own primal power source, but most people these days make a pact with the demon Linus and simply channel his power”