12SYSTEM AND PROCESS INFORMATION
In this chapter, we look at ways of accessing a variety of system and process information. The primary focus of the chapter is a discussion of the /proc file system. We also describe the uname() system call, which is used to retrieve various system identifiers.
12.1 The /proc File System
In older UNIX implementations, there was typically no easy way to introspectively analyze (or change) attributes of the kernel, to answer questions such as the following:
• How many processes are running on the system and who owns them?
• What files does a process have open?
• What files are currently locked, and which processes hold the locks?
• What sockets are being used on the system?
Some older UNIX implementations solved ...
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