On Mon, 19 Nov 2001 09:36:27 -0500, Terry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snip> What exactly is devfs? What is it used for? What does it do?
<snip> on older linux systems, the /dev contains all the possible block devices that may be used to represent all the hardware on your computer. with the multitude of peripherals available on the market today you can just imagine what a mess the /dev would be. not all block devices are used but they are there 'just in case'. a device driver (its just an explanation so it may be other applications) that needs to say access the cdrom will first have to check the existing block devices in /dev to find the needed entry. it may have to communicate with dud devices until it finds the valid one. and then comes devfs. this scheme lets the kernel only load the needed block devices. this lessens the time an application/utility has to search for the appropriate block device. for a more detailed explanation go to www.mandrakeuser.org/mub/index.php and then go to the tips section. there is a post (i think it was by rolf) linking to the series of pages on ibm.com about reiserfs, tmpfs, devfs and others. check it out for its very informative. ciao! -- "Programming, an artform that fights back." =============================== Anuerin G. Diaz Design Engineer 25/F Equitable-PCI Tower ADB Ave. cor. Poveda St., Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines 1605 Tel no: (632) 6383070 loc 75 ===============================
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