Linux loadable kernel modules are on of the most important innovations in the Linux kernel. They provide a kernel that is both scalable and dynamic. Discover loadable kernels, the ideas behind them, and learn how these independent objects dynamically become part of the Linux kernel.
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Member since:2006-09-30
Well even AmigaOS could load kernel modules of some sort 
BeOS, AFAICR, had kernel modules as well, but in a much cleaner fashion than what linux does.
> how these independent objects dynamically become part of the Linux kernel.
And participate in the global mess...
Linux finally got hierarchically organized modules (BeOS had those 10 years ago), but they still explicitely link to each other making it a pain to have them loaded in correct order, and insmod is still required, even if it's hidden by udev.
In BeOS (and Haiku) modules only link to the kernel, and access other modules via a clean API where they ask which module the need and get given a list of functions then can call.
This makes the whole much cleaner and stable than the driver framework in linux, or rather the absence thereof.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2008-06-07
Member since:2005-08-04
From the article linked:
Linux is not the only monolithic kernel that can be dynamically altered (and it wasn't the first). You'll find loadable module support in Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) variants, Sun Solaris, in older kernels such as OpenVMS, and other popular operating systems such as Microsoft® Windows® and Apple Mac OS X.
So yes, you're right, it wasn't the first one.
Member since:
2005-11-18
Didn't System V R4.2 introduce loadable kernel modules two or three years before Linux (~1992)?