... 2nd Edition June 2001 . ... The Role of the Device Driver . ... As the popularity of the Linux system continues to grow, the interest in writing Linux device drivers steadily increases. ... Device drivers take on a special role in the Linux kernel. ... That code is called a device driver . The kernel must have embedded in it a device driver for every peripheral present on a system, from the hard drive to the keyboard and the tape streamer. ... Back to: Linux Device Drivers, 2nd Edition . ...