Shell Scripting: Expert Recipes for Linux, Bash, and More

Summary

The kernel manages all manner of detail about the running system; processes are one part of that and the process table has been exposed in the /proc pseudo-filesystem for a long time. The Linux kernel also exposes a lot of other kernel state into /proc. This makes for a more flexible system; hugepages, shared memory, and many other parameters can be configured on the fly without requiring a reboot.

Process control includes managing the file descriptors of a process, which can be redirected in a variety of ways to achieve different things. Input and output can be piped and redirected to and from other files and processes.

After this rather in-depth chapter, Chapter 11 finishes off Part I by looking at some of the different shells available, what they have in common, what features each offers, and also how they differ from one another.