Linux/Unix System

aid: linuxunix
name: Linux/Unix System
description: A topic catalog of system-level APIs and interfaces available across Linux/Unix-like operating systems. Includes
  kernel system calls, POSIX standards, inter-process communication mechanisms (D-Bus, Netlink), virtual filesystems (procfs,
  sysfs), event-notification facilities (epoll, inotify), device management (udev, systemd), and userspace security interfaces.
kind: topic
position: Consumer
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
tags:
- Kernel
- Linux
- Operating System
- System
- Unix
- POSIX
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/linuxunix/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2024-01-15'
modified: '2026-04-28'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
- aid: linuxunix:system-calls-api
  name: System Calls API
  description: Low-level interface between user-space applications and the Linux kernel providing access to process management,
    file I/O, memory, networking, signals, and IPC primitives.
  humanURL: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/syscalls.2.html
  tags:
  - Kernel
  - Low-Level
  - Syscalls
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/dir_section_2.html
  - type: Reference
    url: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/userspace-api/index.html
- aid: linuxunix:posix-api
  name: POSIX API
  description: Portable Operating System Interface standards for Unix-like systems, defining a consistent application programming
    interface across platforms.
  humanURL: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/
  tags:
  - POSIX
  - Standards
  - Portability
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/
  - type: Specification
    url: https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/1003.1/7101/
- aid: linuxunix:dbus-api
  name: D-Bus API
  description: Inter-process communication and remote procedure call mechanism widely used on Linux desktop and system services.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/dbus/
  tags:
  - IPC
  - Messaging
  - Desktop
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://dbus.freedesktop.org/doc/dbus-specification.html
  - type: SourceCode
    url: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/dbus/dbus
- aid: linuxunix:netlink-api
  name: Netlink API
  description: Socket-based interface for communication between the kernel and user space, particularly for networking and
    device subsystems.
  humanURL: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/netlink.7.html
  tags:
  - Networking
  - Kernel
  - Sockets
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/netlink.7.html
  - type: Reference
    url: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/userspace-api/netlink/intro.html
- aid: linuxunix:procfs-api
  name: procfs API
  description: Virtual filesystem providing process and system information through a hierarchical file-based interface.
  humanURL: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/proc.5.html
  tags:
  - Filesystem
  - Process
  - Monitoring
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/proc.5.html
  - type: Reference
    url: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/filesystems/proc.html
- aid: linuxunix:sysfs-api
  name: sysfs API
  description: Virtual filesystem for kernel objects and device information presented under /sys.
  humanURL: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/sysfs.5.html
  tags:
  - Filesystem
  - Kernel
  - Devices
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/sysfs.5.html
  - type: Reference
    url: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/filesystems/sysfs.html
- aid: linuxunix:inotify-api
  name: inotify API
  description: Linux kernel subsystem for monitoring filesystem events such as file creation, deletion, and modification.
  humanURL: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/inotify.7.html
  tags:
  - Filesystem
  - Monitoring
  - Events
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/inotify.7.html
- aid: linuxunix:epoll-api
  name: epoll API
  description: I/O event notification facility for scalable monitoring of large numbers of file descriptors.
  humanURL: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/epoll.7.html
  tags:
  - I/O
  - Events
  - Performance
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/epoll.7.html
- aid: linuxunix:udev-api
  name: udev API
  description: Device manager for the Linux kernel handling device nodes and hotplug events in /dev.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/udev.html
  tags:
  - Devices
  - Hardware
  - Hotplug
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/udev.html
  - type: SourceCode
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd/tree/main/src/udev
- aid: linuxunix:systemd-api
  name: systemd API
  description: System and service manager exposing a D-Bus interface for managing services, sockets, devices, mounts, and
    timers.
  humanURL: https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/
  tags:
  - Init
  - Service Management
  - System
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/
  - type: Reference
    url: https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/dbus/
  - type: SourceCode
    url: https://github.com/systemd/systemd
common:
- type: Website
  name: Kernel.org
  description: Home of the Linux kernel project.
  url: https://www.kernel.org/
- type: Documentation
  name: Linux Kernel Documentation
  description: Official kernel documentation tree.
  url: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/
- type: Reference
  name: Linux man-pages
  description: The Linux man-pages project.
  url: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com