lfs-book/appendixa/kernel-desc.xml

<sect2><title>&nbsp;</title><para>&nbsp;</para></sect2>

<sect2><title>Short descriptions</title>

<para>The <emphasis>kernel</emphasis> is the engine of your GNU/Linux system.
When switching on your box, the kernel is the first part of your operating
system that gets loaded. It detects and initializes all the components of your
computer's hardware, then makes these components available as a tree of files
to the software, and turns a single CPU into a multi-tasking machine capable
of running scores of programs seemingly at the same time.</para>
                                                            
<para>The <emphasis>kernel headers</emphasis> define the interface to the
services that the kernel provides. The headers in your system's
<filename>include</filename> directory should <emphasis>always</emphasis> be
the ones against which Glibc was compiled and should therefore
<emphasis>not</emphasis> be replaced when upgrading the kernel.</para>

</sect2>