yoink@tumblr ~ % fortune

"A system call is a request by a running task to the kernel to provide some sort of service on its behalf. In general, the kernel services invoked by system calls comprise an abstraction layer between hardware and user-space programs, allowing a programmer to implement an operating environment without having to tailor his program(s) too specifically to one single brand or precise specific combination of system hardware components. System calls also serve this generalization function across programming languages; e.g., the read system call will read data from a file descriptor. To the programmer, this looks like another C function, but in actuality, the code for read is contained within the kernel."