What is a kernel - Gary explains

Read more: goo.gl/WfOJST
Spend enough time around Android and eventually you will come across the term, “the Linux kernel.” What is a kernel? Let’s find out!
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[@islander959]

My mum is a kernel...want to eat some cereal late night..have to go trough the kernel..want to go out with friends..have to go through the kernel..wana get some money..have to go through the kernel

[@FahadAyon]

nice real life example you have made up

[@SuperRahul73]

💯👍😂

[@TheDocbach]

I read this comment in my head with Gary's voice. LOL.

[@Nischhal]

Hahaha superb example 🤣🤣

[@hocineabdellatifhouari3263]

And that's a nice example that made my day 😂

[@thedude2404]

The kernel is the central module of an operating system (OS). It is the part of the operating system that loads first, and it remains in main memory. Because it stays in memory, it is important for the kernel to be as small as possible while still providing all the essential services required by other parts of the operating system and applications. The kernel code is usually loaded into a protected area of memory to prevent it from being overwritten by programs or other parts of the operating system.

[@ashleyr4702]

wow this comment made so much sense compared to other online courses teaching the same thing. Thank you!

[@LegSpinDrift]

Gary is like the computer science teacher we wished we had...

[@NoajmIsMyName]

right. some they teach and they don't know what they teaching. just reading the book :(

[@LegSpinDrift]

exactly..so true! Noajm Messy

[@223Warlord]

My first semester CS professor is an asshole and downright condescending. By the 2nd semester, the size of the class is halved. I am pretty sure it's because most changed their major because the that horrid professor literally killed their passion for the subject.

[@mothutheslow3955]

In fact I've learned from the internet much more than I would in school!

[@It.wasnt_me]

Infinite Buffer 'in fact' ... I guess some English lessons on you tube need to be found. 😉😄 (just bants)

[@benaloney]

Basically, there's a penguin in your phone

[@whytushar]

benaloney Linux is everywhere

[@benaloney]

Tushar Choudhary there's a little bit of Linux in all of us

[@pnp072000]

benaloney Actually, there's a little bit of LinusSexTips inside of all of us...

[@simplytechreviews1373]

+pnp072000 Which shows that pulling out, does work!

[@darylallen2485]

That explains so much. What are you supposed to feed it?

[@RideAlongside]

The colonel of kernels. Good explanation.

[@shayan_ecksdee]

lol

[@amelio5720]

+Ride Alongside Thats KFC

[@luqmantokisaki3733]

I want him as my lecturer in my college. Genius Gary.

[@fsl001]

I don't normally comment but this deserves a 9.5 /10. The detractor being some of the graphic presentations flashed too fast when Gary was speaking and these are invaluable to blended learners. However, this is a very important topic when undertaking the Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional Exam. We need more teachers like Gary.

[@TechySpeaking]

Say kernel again.

[@Rhino123freak]

lol seriously XD

[@nyisziati]

Nate Harris : colonel. 😂

[@heatxtm]

keeeernel ... leviosaaaa

[@MJ-sp3zh]

@@heatxtm HARRY POTTER

[@274pacific]

@@spwim this is the comment i was looking for

[@holyson5840]

KFC also has a kernel called kernel sanders

[@FutureAIDev2015]

Holy Son BWAHAHA!

[@sam.mankar]

That's Colonel

[@lin018]

Makes me hungry when hearing "Kernel"

[@sagarnaidu7480]

Guru Gary, thanks for enlightening me.... _/\_

[@relnath]

I really appreciate videos like this. It shows regular joes like me how much effort and thought goes through our devices every day, so we can really appreciate the scale of it all. So once again Gary, it's a pleasure to watch your videos, thank you very much.

[@StahliCell]

Damn you explained me what Kernel is, my computer science professor at university couldn't explain it to my colleagues in just above 2 weeks....

[@worldhello1234]

That means he understands it good enough.

[@Theckonestroh]

Kernel is important! BIOS is much more important. Even in Android Developers program got to have a access to the hardware in order to build a kernel. Kernel's are much more simple in Android with for fewer cell phones than Desktop or laptop computers. Not as many devices to connect as in Linux. Of course a college professor isn't probably going to be able to build a kernel, because there more worried about security, networking, viruses, ssh, telnet and just overall repair and upkeep of the hardware on the floor. Other factor Gary forgot to explain is after 1 year or less most of these great ideas are turned into an app available on the Android Store.

[@fadisoltan5113]

that's nothing! MY COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHER BELIEVES IN CORE i4 !!!!!

[@shivampachchigar8678]

@@fadisoltan5113 He must have saw 4th gen i5 as 4500u and thought it would be i4😂😂😂😂

[@fadisoltan5113]

@@shivampachchigar8678 Wonders never stop in 3rd world countries 😂

[@georgemarx7861]

This video is pretty good. I thought he may introduce some complicated name through this video for intruducing the kernel when I opened, but it is not. Every sentence he said is clear and simple, which make people never realise "kernel" can understand.

[@dezmondwhitney1208]

If I had received explanations like this ten years ago my abilities at IT would have come on by leaps and bounds. Many Thanks.

[@aarou]

Your voice is soooo relaxing

[@tangyspy]

British?

[@GarySims]

+Dhruv Verma Who? me? Yep!

[@Xgil2Play]

+Gary Sims Can you be my Computer Systems' teacher?

[@alexts94]

Ikr 😂😂

[@darkpearl88]

really?

[@Gamer16232]

So the kernel is like a magical little man we have in our device doing thousands of tasks and taking notes at the same time

[@FaztTech]

Good Video and Explanation :)

[@ShitTot]

Want to have a good time? Take a shot every time Gary says the word "Kernel." lol

[@insrtclevrnamehere]

Linux kernal is really optimized, and is continually worked on by the community. Win!

[@TheGunman889]

linux is my favourite I got a older macbook pro for the build quality but really miss linux so I wanna dual boot

[@TheGunman889]

Negdo Kavc big complications

[@jamestheotherone742]

Man this video would be a wickedly challenging drinking game if you had to take a shot every time he says, "Curnull".

[@captainsparkle-fingers2744]

Would be so cool to hang out with Gary Sims and talk tech with him!! The man knows a thing or two about the devices we use in everyday world use. GREAT VID!!!

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

In general terms, Gary’s coverage of the major points of what makes a kernel definitely ranks among the best, captain!

[@TheeDevasya]

ive been flashing and jailbreaking my phones since galaxy s i9000 and iPhone 2G days as a hobby by going on forums and following tutorials. I pursue a career in medicine and I am remotely related to Computer Science or any other technical stuff. i did come across a few explanations to my que for kernels and by far this was the best explanation i could understand. TYVM !

[@MJ-sp3zh]

The way he says "kernel" is so satisfying and relaxing. No homo😂

[@zangizangidze8787]

Keoooooooo nel

[@N0purpose]

Why did you say no homo lmao what's gay about that

[@zangizangidze8787]

@@N0purpose kernel fetish

[@MJ-sp3zh]

@@N0purpose holy shit that was 2 yrs ago lmao idfk why

[@N0purpose]

@@MJ-sp3zh lol i didn't even notice that😂

[@worldhello1234]

Gary, you are the man, man. You cannot stress enough that you absolutely need root access to properly install a custom kernel. That saves people a lot of headache if they try to find a definitive answer whether or not you need root access to install a different kernel. My conclusion, custom rooms can be flashed via custom recovery which only requires an unlocked bootloader because it is basically end user stuff.

[@dancooper9377]

Great explanation. And if IT videos ever get boring there's always the 6 o'clock news 😅

[@coscKFUEIT-jf6kj]

this is my assignment that i designed the kernel for the android devices. This video is help for me

[@DarkZerol]

For some reason, I'm suddenly in mood for KFC.

[@eIucidate]

Very succinct summary at the end.

[@LarryLopez91]

Gary, you said near the end of the video that these companies spend millions finding the perfect balance of performance and battery life. What irritates me is that these companies still screw up the performance and/or battery life despite the fact that they have all the best engineers that money can buy! The Oneplus X for example performs like garbage when gaming on the stock kernel setting, yet when you switch it over to the more conservative setting, gaming performance dramatically improves. Can you explain that? How about my LG G4? While on Lollipop, it had pretty good battery life along with fairly good gaming performance. But now with Marshmallow, it feels like I'm gaming with an $80 tablet with poor battery life. Sluggish, yet power hungry! I'm not trying to harp on you or anything, but I find it perfectly understandable when users want to tweak the performance and battery life of their kernels because the companies couldn't get it right on their own. Spending millions doesn't mean diddly when you actually test these devices in the real world. If the companies actually got it right with giving us the optimal performance and battery life the first time, then there would hardly be any need for custom ROMS and kernels.

[@aryanchawla4412]

Dude wtf how did one plux ten released 4 years back?

[@tennicktenstyl]

Knowing that low-level part of OS coding is bloody hard, I don't even wonder how hard it is to make a good kernel.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

It takes some skill, but you don’t have to be a genius. Linus got the basic Linux kernel booting on his own 486 PC all by himself, after I think just a few months’ work. Others have done a similar thing, before and since. Then he went public and it all snowballed from there.

[@naveenbabu7667]

this type of stuff is what makes you guys THE Android authority. keep it up guys

[@sabareeshvelayudan2563]

Beautifully explained.....failed to explain many times in interviews about kernel..read many books...did not understand properly......

[@lesorax123]

I come to android authority just for Gary's videos.

[@durairuna6068]

2:14 just saving this for myself, thanks for the video!

[@fuzz33594]

Gary - another outstanding presentation. I learned something beyond the restaurant waiter analogy I learned when I started messing around with root. Thank you.

[@pavel2058]

You are just AWESOME, thank you for these videos, they are great!

[@rafael9921]

*Even if i dont know his name, i would say his name is Gary*

[@darwinvinci7744]

Lmao why do I feel the same

[@therealsayanroy]

this is the best comment on any youtube video

[@Husvagnen18]

I use a custom kernel for my Note 2. It gives much more configuration options, and it improves the audio quality and boosts up the volume when I use headphones. Much better than the original kernel.

[@ravimohan6144]

Thanks for sparking the interest. Nice little introduction with historical perspective which is very important to understand where we stand

[@Ph03n1ks]

Awesome explanation. Will just have the word "kernel" stuck in my head all day. One more time: kernel.

[@rikingg5629]

Take a shot of whisky everytime he says "kernel"

[@khalidmkhan]

Never had it so concise! Uni seems a lifetime away. Thanks for uploading

[@id104335409]

It's what gets stuck between your teeth when you eat popcorn.

[@noahroger5874]

Thank you for you contribution on Kernel. How explicit it was appreciate your effort.

[@retiredshitposter1062]

damn this guy knows his shit. expert level explanation. well done sir.

[@Elhandyhijodemanny]

Great lecture, don't rush through the information intensive slides though.

[@getoverhere1225]

There's even the KFC Kernel Sanders. WOW 😂

[@ChocoIatx2]

great work! you're my favorite KZbinr on AA since every time I watch one of your videos I learn something new.

[@liccoweeee]

I loved how Gary explain Tech!

[@danwintle8585]

Love all of these kind of videos, very interesting to learn all the different things that go in inside phones and computers, keep up the awesome work! :D

[@NeerajLagwankar]

Excellent video! Loved it very much

[@mrwang420]

I personally believe that the creation of a whole new operating system from the kernel up is a good idea. Honestly I like the idea of an os that is super simple and allows it to utilize as mich of the hardware as possible.

[@5gun1]

So what’s stopping you from making one

[@qwerte6948]

​@@5gun1 his own mind

[@AnathemaAnimus]

I used to run Cyanogenmod on my phones many years ago and undervolting during those days helped with the terrible battery life of that era of phones. Today is less about battery and more about security and privacy though and thankfully there are options! I love this explanation, where was this video in 2004 when I first started putting Linux on old computers? I definitely could have used it 🙂

[@charlesmwai5593]

So clear even a toothless can chew. Good one

[@niara9700]

There should be more videos like this on youtube. Teaching us some little notions about computer science.

[@longsss]

Thanks Gary! I've been wondering what a kernel is.. Finally the time has come.

[@bonehelm]

Take a drink every time he says kernal.

[@mznunaya]

I absolutely love you. I could listen to you talk about this shit all day.

[@elusivethelegend7404]

Rock on Gary, your explanations are AWESOME! You should go over some of the most common partitions in Android

[@jasonvanburen5701]

Thank you, I have been trying to find a clear explanation of what is a kernel

[@ndrukz]

thanks Mr.Gary ! i wish i can have you as my teacher back in the college.

[@aleksagordic9593]

As far as I know kernel is not the lowest piece of software on every OS, it is so in Linux. On other operating systems like Windows or some real time operating systems like FreeRTOS you have device drivers/HAL (hardware abstraction layer) that are not part of the kernel nor a part of OS. So the OS has certain APIs to certain hardware modules and then it is the task of driver developers to create drivers that actually implement those function calls from OS API. Maybe I'm wrong, if so feel free to correct me.

[@DevanshuRow]

" .. computers are incredibly dumb. All they're doing is following instructions. " You should meet humans, they struggle to achieve the above

[@rahulm5062]

Excellent job Gary! And thank you soo much for the explanation. I was not knowing anything about kernels. Now I got an idea. Thank you, Android Authority.

[@snailnailnailnailnailnails]

>those OEMs are trying to find a happy medium ahahahahahaha

[@PatrickDKing]

Thanks. I always thought a kernel was that annoying thing that gets stuck in my teeth after eating popcorn.

[@danielwait8555]

Your channel is great man! I am an electronics student and we don't get this quality information even though we're working with microcontrollers all the time.

[@urielemmanuelpelaezhernandez39]

Good Overview about Monolithic and micro Kernel, good job. ⭐⭐⭐

[@samatarosman5811]

Thank you! I've been wondering what a kernel was for quite some time.

[@shagadellic12]

Drinking game: Every time he says the word 'kernel', take a drink/shot. You are welcome

[@andrewbrown6307]

100% less music and its perfect video

[@fauzifikri7805]

This is pure tech content .. Superb explanation ..

[@jordanmoorman5024]

Videos like this will be why our robot overlords will beat us and laugh, in the future that is.

[@Archer_Legend]

"The teacher" did I have anything else to say about this man?

[@rashidhussain4737]

my handsfree set burst by Gary's audio mode. Goood job though.

[@muhaymin]

Plethora of knowledge as always, great stuff Gary

[@Matty-Z]

Rock on Gary, your explanations are AWESOME! You should go over some of the most common partitions in Android and their functions. Also, some CPU governor explaining would be great. The info on both subjects is scattered and difficult to understand.

[@piyushmittra]

Though I already know all about it but still it's great to hear it from Gary😀

[@mr.matthews67]

Don't forget there's also Colonel Sanders. I mean where would computers be without good fried chicken. 😂

[@ElonTusk.]

About the bricking, bricking is only possible if the bootloader isn't unlocked while trying to use a custom kernal, bootloader unlocked can allow u to reinstall the rom again, with Xiaomi phones it says "fastboot mode" if u don't have a os installed on ur phone which I'm glad they added cuz in some phones u can't reinstall roms even if the bootloader is unlocked it just won't straight up install or boot.

[@mr_pants]

Absolutely love Gary Explains! keep them up please

[@copytango7967]

i always wanted to understand kernel i was also commented on sir garry previous videos finally it's here thnk u

[@given-namesurname5740]

7:43 "...you can guarantee they certainly would." Call it a hunch, but I doubt that

[@outofstock22]

I wish my computer science prof was like you.

[@Justinwhat1]

Man what a great video. Simple, yet informative enough. Thanks.

[@austinn.4389]

I always enjoy Gary's videos. Great video man! God bless ya! :)

[@syedmuneeburrahman]

I like Gary and his explanation..... but I don't like the glare on his glasses and a thumbs up for your detailed explanation.... I wish I had a teacher like you in my college then I would've loved to have a convo

[@maladroitcolors]

Thanks. This helped me understand reading about Kernels in my Securing Systems textbook by Schoenfield.

[@mustafizurrahmanchowdhury7136]

i like your great sound of kernel, need to study. thanks.

[@danielcu96]

Favorite section of AA, and as always, Gary delivers :) Thank you for sharing with us this awesome info

[@danielkrajnik3817]

4:40 young Linus looks exactly like today's Linus running on a younger body

[@DaLordt]

Excellent video! Clear and concise, as all things related to education should be.

[@photon_phi902]

Thanks all you are an excellent explainer and by the way I know your channel more than 10 years doing good 👍 job

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

4:43 Andy Tanenbaum entitled his USENET posting “Linux Is Obsolete”. He saw it as dumb that somebody would be creating a new monolithic kernel in 1992, since the future obviously belonged to microkernels. Guess what? Here we are, a quarter of a century later, and Linux has essentially conquered the entire computing world. And microkernels are still a solution in search of a problem.

[@suhijo]

Actually it IS dumb, what have helped Linux is the growing capacity of devices so you don't feel to recompile every time your kernel for a new device. But indeed a microkernel is in academic field the correct for maintaining a kernel. If you don't believe me try searching how much of those 15 000 000 lines of the kernel actually work for you computer.

[@lawrencedoliveiro9104]

@@suhijo It’s actually over 20 million now, and most of that is device drivers. A microkernel would need just as much code for device drivers, so I’m not sure what point you think you are making?

[@lal12]

Besides there are some trends in the linux kernel, which go into the microkernel direction. Essentially there are more and more mechanisms which enable you to write devices drivers in userspace. So if you want you can push it as far to come at least very near to a microkernel (e.g. using a userspace network stack and so on). However for me the main disadvantage of a microkernel is the need for more context switches between kernel and userspace. Most IPC (especially low latency one) would need additional context switches to the kernel.

[@danielpaz349]

Very well spoken.

[@maddiemeee]

So everything goes through-the-kernel :D Very helpful explanation.

[@NoName-bg2om]

Great explanation colonel.

[@jaman198]

We all need someone in real life to explain computer stuff like this in simple terms...

[@rishadalias2486]

tnk u sooo much. at last I got an idea about the kernel