Chapter 3 - Operating Systems
Outcomes
- Apply understanding of the role and functioning of operating systems to a variety of situations in both CS classroom and daily life, e.g.,
- Describe computer activity necessary to accomplish some particular goal, e.g., read data from a file, stream a video, etc.
- Explain how computers can seem to be doing more than one task at a time.
- Formulate a hypothesis that would explain a computer system's, perhaps unexpected, behavior.
- Apply understanding of the role and functioning of operating systems to a variety of security and societal issues, e.g.,
- Identify a variety of security threats that operating systems can mitigate and identify how that is done.
- Discuss user responsibilities with respect to protecting the computer systems they use, particularly when other users may be impacted.
- Analyze a given issue to formulate responsibility and liability of various stakeholders, i.e., CPU suppliers, computer/device suppliers, government, and users/consumers.
Activities
Reading Guide
In order to guide your reading we have designated each section into one of three categories:
- Essential - You should thoroughly read this material and be prepared to answer questions about this material on assessments.
- Important - You should thoroughly read this material and be prepared to participate in in-class discussions/activities about this material.
- Useful - We feel that this material is worth knowing and may supplement other material in the chapter. However, we do not plan on assessing or discussing (unless you ask questions).
| Section | Essential | Important | Useful |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 History of OS |  |
||
| 3.2 Operating System Architecture | |
||
| 3.3 Coordinating the Machine's Activities | |
||
| 3.4 Handling Competition Among Processes | |
||
| Semaphores and Deadlocks | |
||
| Multi-Core Operating Systems | |
||
| 3.5 Security | |||
| Attacks from the Outside | |
||
| Attacks from Within | |
Video Resources
- Crash Course CS: Operating Systems
- Crash Course CS: Memory and Storage
- Crash Course CS: Files and File Systems
Study Guide
The competencey demo for this chapter will consist of several questions from the following study guide. As you study this chapter we suggest you work through the materials in this study guide and ask questions if you need clarifications.Study Questions
After you complete the readings for this unit/chapter you should arrange to meet with your groupmates and work on the following activities.
Based on these questions we will prepare additional materials to help clarify issues.
- Podcast response videos
- Podcast 3.1 - Introduction and two general questions
- Podcast 3.2 - Study Guide Question 4
- Podcast 3.3 - Study Guide Question 5
- Podcast 3.4 - Study Guide Question 6
- Group Meetup Video
The story I referenced in the podcasts and our group meetup. This gives more details so you can understand the situation better.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/30/22410164/linux-kernel-university-of-minnesota-banned-open-source