“If you’re like me, you enjoy poking around in your directory
tree, hunting for interesting things. Perhaps you’ve noticed the
/proc file-system, but haven’t had much of a clue as to what it is
used for. It contains a number of odd entries such as “meminfo”,
“kmsg”, “interrupts”, etc. If you’ve ever tried to do a “cat” on
these files, you were probably greeted with a set of odd words and
numbers that may not have made much sense at the time. However, for
those who know how to use it, the /proc file system can be a
valuable source of information about your Linux system.”
“The /proc file system is only a “virtual” file system. What
this means is that none of the “files” that it contains are stored
on your hard disk. Rather, it is a way to easily access dynamic
information about your system at any time, and only exists in
memory. Working with a Linux system sometimes requires a more
in-depth knowledge of your system than other operating systems,
such as, “what PCI devices do I currently have in my system? What
interrupts are currently in use?” As you become more of a “power
user”, you’ll find some of this information to be valuable as you
perform certain tasks. Besides, isn’t it just plain cool to have
all this information at your fingertips? Imagine how impressed your
friends will be as you rattle off the interrupts that are currently
in use on your system! You’ll be the life of the party for sure.
(Well, at a LAN party, perhaps).”