[ linux · low-level · zero hype ]

You’re not looking for quick fixes. You’re looking for understanding.

A self-taught developer’s notes on how things actually work. Linux internals, systems programming, and the mindset of a mature engineer — no tutorial hell, no corporate noise.

Read the posts → Newsletter

piotrek@devmindset: ~

piotrek@devmindset:~$ whoami

self-taught developer — arch, neovim, python, bash

piotrek@devmindset:~$ cat ./about.md

A blog about how things work underneath. Not “how to write a loop” —

why free() doesn’t always return memory to the OS, and what ld.so

does before main() runs.

piotrek@devmindset:~$ ls ./posts/ | head -5

linux-page-cache-why optimal-python-code ptrace-how-strace building-an-mcp signals-in-linux

piotrek@devmindset:~$

~/topics

Linux internals →

Kernel, memory, processes, syscalls. What the system actually does when your code asks it for anything.

Systems programming →

Allocators, I/O, signals, linking. The layer where abstractions leak — and you need to know why.

Engineer’s mindset →

Hypothesis-driven debugging, reading other people’s code, when DRY hurts. How you think when you get it, instead of guessing.

# start here

01malloc internals — Why free() Doesn’t Return Memory to the Systemarena · tcache · brk vs mmap · RSS growth→ 02ELF and Dynamic Linking — What Happens Before main() RunsGOT · PLT · ld.so · lazy binding · LD_PRELOAD→ 03Anatomy of a Segfault — From MMU Through Kernel to gdb Core Dumppage fault · SIGSEGV · core dump · gdb→ 04epoll vs io_uring — When the Event Loop Isn’t EnoughC10k · async I/O · connection scaling→ 05The DRY Myth — When Code Duplication Is the Correct Architecturepremature abstraction · coupling · pragmatism→

All posts →

# whoami

I write for developers and self-taught programmers who want to understand how code and systems work.

I’m self-taught myself — no formal specialization, but I run Arch every day and I dig until I understand. If a tutorial leaves you asking “but why does that work?”, you will find topics to explore further here.

About me →

New articles, straight to your inbox

When they drop — no spam, no growth hacks. Unsubscribe in one click.

Subscribe →