Kroah-Hartman Greg Corbet Jonathan Rubini Alessandro - Linux device drivers: On t.p. of previous ed. Alessandro Rubinis name appeared first

The publication of this edition coincides with my twelth year of working with Linux and, shockingly, my twenty-fifth year in the computing field. Computing seemed like a fast-moving field back in 1980, but things have sped up a lot since then. Keeping Linux Device Drivers up to date is increasingly a challenge; the Linux kernel hackers continue to improve their code, and they have little patience for documentation that fails to keep up.

Linux continues to succeed in the market and, more importantly, in the hearts and minds of developers worldwide. The success of Linux is clearly a testament to its technical quality and to the numerous benefits of free software in general. But the true key to its success, in my opinion, lies in the fact that it has brought the fun back to computing. With Linux, anybody can get their hands into the system and play in a sandbox where contributions from any direction are welcome, but where technical excellence is valued above all else. Linux not only provides us with a top-quality operating system; it gives us the opportunity to be part of its future development and to have fun while we're at it.

In my 25 years in the field, I have had many interesting opportunities, from programming the first Cray computers (in Fortran, on punch cards) to seeing the minicomputer and Unix workstation waves, through to the current, microprocessor-dominated era. Never, though, have I seen the field more full of life, opportunity, and fun. Never have we had such control over our own tools and their evolution. Linux, and free software in general, is clearly the driving force behind those changes.

My hope is that this edition helps to bring that fun and opportunity to a new set of Linux developers. Whether your interests are in the kernel or in user space, I hope you find this book to be a useful and interesting guide to just how the kernel works with the hardware. I hope it helps and inspires you to fire up your editor and to make our shared, free operating system even better. Linux has come a long way, but it is also just beginning; it will be more than interesting to watchand participate inwhat happens from here.

I've always enjoyed computers because they can talk to external hardware. So, after soldering my devices for the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum, backed with the Unix and free software expertise the university gave me, I could escape the DOS trap by installing GNU/Linux on a fresh new 386 and by turning on the soldering iron once again.

Back then, the community was a small one, and there wasn't much documentation about writing drivers around, so I started writing for Linux Journal. That's how things started: when I later discovered I didn't like writing papers, I left the univeristy and found myself with an O'Reilly contract in my hands.

That was in 1996. Ages ago.

The computing world is different now: free software looks like a viable solution, both technically and politically, but there's a lot of work to do in both realms. I hope this book furthers two aims: spreading technical knowledge and raising awareness about the need to spread knowledge. That's why, after the first edition proved interesting to the public, the two authors of the second edition switched to a free license, supported by our editor and our publisher. I'm betting this is the right approach to information, and it's great to team up with other people sharing this vision.

I'm excited by what I witness in the embedded arena, and I hope this text helps by doing more; but ideas are moving fast these days, and it's already time to plan for the fourth edition, and look for a fourth author to help.