I've a question about the /dev directory, or more accurately, the
representation of hardware as files on Unix-style operating systems.
In the README file on the Mandrake CD under /images, one way to write the
boot disk images to a floppy is to use the "dd" command, which, to my
understanding, does little more than copy a file. Am I correct when I say
that what you're doing is copying the .img file to the file representing the
floppy?
If so, then my question is, to what extent are devices treated like files?
More specifically, can I check a CD I burned using the md5sum output
provided in the /ISO directory of my local mirror? If I change the filename
(in the md5sum file) to /dev/cdrom, can I then run md5sum with that file
[md5sum, not /dev/cdrom] as input and have it check the CD (instead of the
image)?
Thank you all, who take the time to read and answer this.
-Matt Stegman
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
