System calls

In a system call, the software requests the kernel to provide a specific service or resource from the operating system. In many of the usual system calls, EGLIBC acts as the intermediary between the operating system and the programs.

System calls are usually related to:

• process control (such as terminating a process)
• file management (such as opening a file)
• device management (such as setting device attributes)
• information maintenance (such as setting the time)
• communication (such as transferring status information)

In effect, the code for a function may actually be a part of the kernel, even though it looks like a regular C function to a programmer.

For a list of the system calls available through EGLIBC, see the navigation tree on the left.