The Unix and Internet Fundamentals HOWTO

Eric Raymond

           esr@thyrsus.com
        

Revision History
Revision 2.05 August 2000Revised by: esr
First DocBook version. Detailed description of memory hierarchy.
Revision 1.76 March 2000Revised by: esr
Correct and expanded the section on file permissions.
Revision 1.425 September 1999Revised by: esr
Be more precise about what kernel does vs. what init does.
Revision 1.327 June 1999Revised by: esr
The sections `What happens when you log in?' and `File ownership, permissions and security'.
Revision 1.226 December 1998Revised by: esr
The section `How does my computer store things in memory?'.
Revision 1.029 October 1998Revised by: esr
Initial revision.

This document describes the working basics of PC-class computers, Unix-like operating systems, and the Internet in non-technical language.


Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Purpose of this document
1.2. Related resources
1.3. New versions of this document
1.4. Feedback and corrections
2. Basic anatomy of your computer
3. What happens when you switch on a computer?
4. What happens when you log in?
5. What happens when you run programs from the shell?
6. How do input devices and interrupts work?
7. How does my computer do several things at once?
8. How does my computer keep processes from stepping on each other?
8.1. Virtual memory: the simple version
8.2. Virtual memory: the detailed version
8.3. The Memory Management Unit
9. How does my computer store things in memory?
9.1. Numbers
9.2. Characters
10. How does my computer store things on disk?
10.1. Low-level disk and file system structure
10.2. File names and directories
11. Mount points
12. How a file gets looked up
12.1. File ownership, permissions and security
12.2. How things can go wrong
13. How do computer languages work?
13.1. Compiled languages
13.2. Interpreted languages
13.3. P-code languages
14. How does the Internet work?
14.1. Names and locations
14.2. Packets and routers
14.3. TCP and IP
14.4. HTTP, an application protocol