Linux Administration Cookbook

How it works...

What we're mostly doing here is checking what the kernel is aware of in terms of devices connected to your system.

PCI devices, as well as USB devices, have denotions that are the same across all operating systems (you'll see the same Hex values on Windows, Mac, and BSD). This allows for the kernel to choose and load the appropriate bit of code, written to interact with that same device.

It's rare, but it can happen that one module supersedes an older one or two drivers can both be used with the same hardware; in this case, it's useful to know your hardware device IDs and the bit of kernel code that's running against them.

If you use Linux on the desktop, and use an Nvidia or AMD GPU, there's a high chance you'll be interacting ...