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[OCLUG-Tech] loadable kernel modules -- redux

  a hearty (pre-blizzard?) thanks to everyone who attended last
night's OCLUG meeting and listened to me babble on about one of my
favourite topics -- getting beginners into kernel programming by
writing and loading their first kernel module.  so let me clear up any
outstanding issues.

  first, as i mentioned, that intro content last night is just the
first few (free) lessons of my online intro kernel programming course
you can find here:

http://www.crashcourse.ca/introduction-linux-kernel-programming/introduction-linux-kernel-programming

while i make no apologies that i sell that entire online course for a
staggering total of $39 (Cdn) per person, everything attendees saw
last night is in the first few lessons, which is entirely free and
you're welcome to share all that with anyone.  the course itself still
has a few more lessons to be added but there's more than enough there
to keep beginners happy for a while.  so work your way through the
first few lessons, ask questions, leave comments, etc.

  re: books, there's a pretty strong consensus that there are three
kernel books that are head and shoulders above the rest at the moment:

http://www.amazon.ca/Linux-Kernel-Development-Robert-Love/dp/0672329468
http://www.amazon.ca/Essential-Device-Drivers-Sreekrishnan-Venkateswaran/dp/0132396556
http://www.amazon.ca/Embedded-Linux-Primer-Practical-Real-World/dp/0137017839

  amusingly, i'm the technical editor of the first of those, and one
of the pre-publication reviewers of the third one.  but just to be
clear, i have no financial interest whatsoever in anyone's purchase of
any of them.  they're just very good books, with different focuses.

  finally, as i mentioned and i'd like to stress again, i'm moving to
ottawa in the near future and, yes, i'll be looking for linux-related
work, and it should be no secret that i'd love to continue doing
training.  so if you or your department or your company is looking for
professional linux or linux-related training where you can pick
*exactly* what you want to learn, then give me the time to put a
course together, i'm pretty sure i can deliver quality instruction at
a *fraction* (literally) of the cost of what you'd be paying
elsewhere.  if you want to know more, drop me e-mail and we can
continue chatting.  (i also have an extensive background in technical
writing so there's that, too.)

  until next time.

rday

p.s.  there was some animated conversation over beers about something
i mentioned just in passing.  a very good friend of mine currently
works with enterprise content management (ECM) software that is
*entirely* open source.  it's a french company that is currently
making inroads into the north american market:

http://www.nuxeo.com/en

  in fact, i had a short contract to revamp some of their online
documentation, this is one of the pages i wrote:

http://doc.nuxeo.com/display/MAIN/Getting+started+with+Nuxeo+--+a+beginner's+page

so if you're looking for fully OSS ECM software, this is the person
you want to talk to:

http://candystrategies.com/about/

  tell her i sent you.  ok, *now* it's time for coffee.  and deciding
whether i want to brave the 401 today.

-- 

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Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
                        http://crashcourse.ca

Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
LinkedIn:                               http://ca.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
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