Reviews for Essential Linux Device Drivers (Prentice Hall Open Source Software Development)

1. Simply the most up-to-date and complete book on drivers

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, November 12nd, 2009

   If you read this review in two years, this book is no longer up-to-date.
   Actually, some contents is already outdated when I write this review - but that's life in the Linux Kernel: it changes at an amazing speed.
   
   Venkateswaran does a good job at trying to be as complete as possible - He discussed how to write a driver for almost any of the subsystems (char device, network device, compact flash, USB, wifi, etc). Every discussion tries to bring in as much of the material as possible. That's good, but it also has its negative side as I noticed several small errors in the discussions. In general, this is a great book - it really is enough to bring you up-to-speed with driver development for Linux. In details, it is even greater as you'll find almost any subsystem documented.
   

2. Magnificent! I'll probably wear this book out!

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 2008

   This book starts by covering the kernel architecture, placing drivers in their context and discussing the support structures that exist for them, with that start everything else follows naturally, and logically.
   
   This book is bang up to date and addresses every significant class of driver, and many of the idiosyncrasies of the driver models. While old hands will know much of this material already, this is the one stop reference for 90% of the details you'll need for the task in hand, and has excellent pointers for where to find the rest.
   
   This is one of the best "working knowledges" available on paper, and is both a great starting point on the road of experience, as well as a worthy reference for those en-route.