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Module (Linux)
A loadable kernel module (LKM) is an executable library that extends the capabilities of a running kernel, or so-called ''base kernel'', of an operating system. LKMs are typically used to add support for new hardware (as device drivers) and/or filesystems, or for adding system calls. When the functionality provided by an LKM is no longer required, it can be unloaded in order to free memory and other resources. Most current Unix-like systems and Windows support loadable kernel modules but with different names, such as kernel loadable module (kld) in FreeBSD, kernel extension (kext) in macOS (although support for third-party modules is being dropped), kernel extension module in AIX, dynamically loadable kernel module in HP-UX, kernel-mode driver in Windows NT and downloadable kernel module (DKM) in VxWorks. They are also known as kernel loadable module (KLM), or simply as kernel module (KMOD). Advantages Without loadable kernel modules, an operating system would have to inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Executable
In computer science, executable code, an executable file, or an executable program, sometimes simply referred to as an executable or binary, causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instruction (computer science), instructions", as opposed to a data (computing), data file that must be interpreted (parser, parsed) by an interpreter (computing), interpreter to be functional. The exact interpretation depends upon the use. "Instructions" is traditionally taken to mean machine code instructions for a physical central processing unit, CPU. In some contexts, a file containing scripting instructions (such as bytecode) may also be considered executable. Generation of executable files Executable files can be hand-coded in machine language, although it is far more convenient to develop software as source code in a high-level language that can be easily understood by humans. In some cases, source code might be specified in assembly language instead, which rema ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windows NT
Windows NT is a Proprietary software, proprietary Graphical user interface, graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Originally made for the workstation, office, and Server (computing), server markets, the Windows NT line was made available to consumers with the release of Windows XP in 2001. The underlying technology of Windows NT continues to exist to this day with incremental changes and improvements, with the latest version of Windows based on Windows NT being Windows Server 2025 announced in 2024. The name "Windows NT" originally denoted the major technological advancements that it had introduced to the Windows product line, including eliminating the 16-bit computing, 16-bit memory access limitations of earlier Windows releases such as Windows 3.1 and the Windows 9x series. Each Windows release built on this technology is considered to be based on, if not a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NVIDIA GPU
This list contains general information about graphics processing units (GPUs) and video cards from Nvidia, based on official specifications. In addition some Comparison of Nvidia nForce chipsets, Nvidia motherboards come with integrated onboard GPUs. Limited/special/collectors' editions or AIB versions are not included. Field explanations The fields in the table listed below describe the following: * ''Model'' – The marketing name for the processor, assigned by Nvidia. * ''Launch'' – Date of release for the processor. * ''Code name'' – The internal engineering codename for the processor (typically designated by an NVXY name and later GXY where X is the series number and Y is the schedule of the project for that generation). * ''Semiconductor device fabrication, Fab'' – Fabrication process. Average feature size of components of the processor. * ''Bus (computing), Bus interface'' – Bus by which the graphics processor is attached to the system (typically an expansion slot, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proprietary Software
Proprietary software is computer software, software that grants its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner a legal monopoly by modern copyright and intellectual property law to exclude the recipient from freely sharing the software or modifying it, and—in some cases, as is the case with some patent-encumbered and EULA-bound software—from making use of the software on their own, thereby restricting their freedoms. Proprietary software is a subset of non-free software, a term defined in contrast to free and open-source software; non-commercial licenses such as CC BY-NC are not deemed proprietary, but are non-free. Proprietary software may either be closed-source software or source-available software. Types Origin Until the late 1960s, computers—especially large and expensive mainframe computers, machines in specially air-conditioned computer rooms—were usually leased to customers rather than Sales, sold. Service and all software available ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derivative Work
In copyright law, a derivative work is an expressive creation that includes major copyrightable elements of a first, previously created original work (the underlying work). The derivative work becomes a second, separate work independent from the first. The transformation, modification or adaptation of the work must be substantial and bear its author's personality sufficiently to be original and thus protected by copyright. Translations, cinematic adaptations and musical arrangements are common types of derivative works. Most countries' legal systems seek to protect both original and derivative works. They grant authors the right to impede or otherwise control their integrity and the author's commercial interests. Derivative works and their authors benefit in turn from the full protection of copyright without prejudicing the rights of the original work's author. Definition Berne The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, an international copy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GNU GRUB
GNU GRUB (short for GNU GRand Unified Bootloader, commonly referred to as GRUB) is a boot loader package from the GNU Project. GRUB is the reference implementation of the Free Software Foundation's Multiboot Specification, which provides a user the choice to boot one of multiple operating systems installed on a computer set up for multi-booting or select a specific Kernel (operating system), kernel configuration available on a particular operating system's partitions. GNU GRUB was developed from a package called the ''Grand Unified Bootloader'' (a play on Grand Unified Theory). It is predominantly used for Unix-like systems. Operation Booting When a computer is turned on, its BIOS finds the primary bootable device (usually the computer's hard disk) and runs the initial Bootstrapping (computing), bootstrap program from the master boot record (MBR). The MBR is the first Disk sector, sector of the hard disk. This bootstrap program must be small because it has to fit in a sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lsmod
lsmod is a command on Linux systems that lists each loadable kernel module that is loaded. Example output from lsmod: Module Size Used by af_packet 27392 2 8139too 30592 0 snd_cs46xx 96872 3 snd_pcm_oss 55808 1 snd_mixer_oss 21760 2 snd_pcm_oss ip6table_filter 7424 1 ip6_tables 19728 1 ip6table_filter ipv6 290404 22 xfs 568384 4 sis900 18052 5 libata 169920 1 pata_sis scsi_mod 158316 3 usb_storage,sd_mod,libata usbcore 155312 6 ohci_hcd, usb_storage, usbhid The ''Module'' column contains the name of a module. The ''Size'' column indicates the size in byte The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modprobe
modprobe is a Linux program that provides for loading a loadable kernel module into a Linux kernel, unloading a loaded module and many other related features. It provides an ability to make decisions about which modules to load, awareness of module dependencies, so that when requested to load a module, it adds other required modules first and resolution of recursive module dependencies. It is commonly used indirectly. For example, udev relies upon modprobe to load drivers for automatically detected hardware. Modprobe was originally written by Rusty Russell and is distributed as part of the software package "kmod" (maintained by Lucas De Marchi and others). It was previously developed as: * "module-init-tools", for Linux kernel version 2.6 and later (maintained by Jon Masters and others) * "modutils" for use with Linux versions 2.2.x and 2.4.x. . Operation When invoked with no switches, the program adds/inserts/installs the module specified by name. Arguments after the module ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Translation Lookaside Buffer
A translation lookaside buffer (TLB) is a memory CPU cache, cache that stores the recent translations of virtual memory address to a physical memory Memory_address, location. It is used to reduce the time taken to access a user memory location. It can be called an address-translation cache. It is a part of the chip's Memory management unit, memory-management unit (MMU). A TLB may reside between the Central processing unit, CPU and the CPU cache, between CPU cache and the main memory or between the different levels of the multi-level cache. The majority of desktop, laptop, and server processors include one or more TLBs in the memory-management hardware, and it is nearly always present in any processor that uses Memory paging, paged or Memory segmentation, segmented virtual memory. The TLB is sometimes implemented as content-addressable memory (CAM). The CAM search key is the virtual address, and the search result is a physical address. If the requested address is present in the TLB ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount (computing)
Mounting is a process by which a computer's operating system makes Computer file, files and Directory (computing), directories on a Computer data storage, storage device (such as Hard disk drive, hard drive, CD-ROM, or network share) available for users to access via the computer's file system. In general, the process of mounting comprises the operating system acquiring access to the storage medium; recognizing, reading, and processing file system structure and metadata on it before registering them to the virtual file system (VFS) component. The location in the VFS to which the newly mounted medium was registered is called a "mount point"; when the mounting process is completed, the user can access files and directories on the medium from there. An opposite process of mounting is called unmounting, in which the operating system cuts off all user access to files and directories on the mount point, writes the remaining queue of user data to the storage device, refreshes file sys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Random-access Memory
Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of Computer memory, electronic computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working Data (computing), data and machine code. A random-access memory device allows data items to be read (computer), read or written in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory, in contrast with other direct-access data storage media (such as hard disks and Magnetic tape data storage, magnetic tape), where the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement. In today's technology, random-access memory takes the form of integrated circuit (IC) chips with MOSFET, MOS (metal–oxide–semiconductor) Memory cell (computing), memory cells. RAM is normally associated with Volatile memory, volatile types of memory where s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fragmentation (computing)
In computer storage, fragmentation is a phenomenon in the computer system which involves the distribution of data in to smaller pieces which storage space, such as computer memory or a hard drive, is used inefficiently, reducing capacity or performance and often both. The exact consequences of fragmentation depend on the specific system of storage allocation in use and the particular form of fragmentation. In many cases, fragmentation leads to storage space being "wasted", and programs will tend to run inefficiently due to the shortage of memory. Basic principle In main memory fragmentation, when a computer program requests blocks of memory from the computer system, the blocks are allocated in chunks. When the computer program is finished with a chunk, it can free it back to the system, making it available to later be allocated again to another or the same program. The size and the amount of time a chunk is held by a program varies. During its lifespan, a computer program can requ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
