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/dev/null is a file system abstraction of a data sink in Unix-style operating systems, following a producer/consumer pattern.
NULL (sometimes listed as null or NUL) is a constant in many referring to a pointer construct with points to nothing in memory or within a namespace. Also, NUL is the constant mapped to 0 in the official ASCII table and many other character encodings.
NUL linking to /dev/null? Or is size of the /dev/null article the issue? Maybe a 'Data sink' article? The concept of data sink does apply to other parts of computing too (networking, synchronous systems).
-- CrixDev ( talk) 14:51, 5 October 2011 (UTC)
In Windows NT, it works somewhat like UNIX, but with a bit of DOS compatibility added in. Like UNIX, NT has a single root directory, but called \ instead of /. (NT's root directory can be considered to be on a RAM disk.) NT's equivalent to /dev is the \Device directory. Inside it is the \Device\Null device node, which works identically to UNIX's /dev/null.
The Win32 function for opening files, CreateFile, has a DOS compatibility layer. It translates filenames from DOS format into the native NT format. DOS devices are located in the NT directory \??. When opening the special file NUL:, CreateFile actually translates your request into opening the NT native file \??\NUL. \??\NUL is a symbolic link to \Device\Null.
[1] is a great program for exploring the native NT file system.
--- Myria 07:54, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
How is dev/null different than a trashcan in today's modern OSs? -- Navstar 21:01, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
I found that it is somewhat difficult to link to this article because of the leading slash. Also, the article is technically a subpage, right?
The following doesn't work right because the leading slash makes the link relative to the current page (or is it the top-level page?):
[[/dev/null]] → produces → /dev/null
I was successfully able to link the the article using a leading colon in the link href:
[[:/dev/null]] → produces → /dev/null
Now I can't find a way to link to the talk page of the article!
[[Talk:/dev/null]] → produces → Talk:/dev/null
[[Talk::/dev/null]] → produces → [[Talk::/dev/null]]
[[:Talk:/dev/null]] → produces → Talk:/dev/null
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Blooper Glooper ( talk • contribs) 02:03, 4 February 2007 (UTC1)
full/not full? dimensions of dev/null - 0 or approaching infinity? is the null device equally available to an infinite number of simultaneously executing threads? User:.digamma/null —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.82.74.18 ( talk) 22:11, 11 March 2008 (UTC)
Powerbook G4 advert was completely irrelevant and planted by Mac a fanboi. 17:38, 23 February 2009 [User:79.73.196.40]]
when electrical current powers the computer, data is written, when that data is deleted, the energy escapes via /dev/null (among other ways)
electricity converted into bits. removed bits go to dev/null -- the hardware has a metal device that dumps heat from /dev/null —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.18.203.236 ( talk) 06:41, 25 September 2010 (UTC)
I suggest renaming and expanding the scope of this page from /dev/null to Null device. I think it is better to use English rather than computer codes and abbreviations. Also this would avoid all the Media Wiki subpage technicalities mentioned above. Once renamed, then I would suggest merging NUL:, which looks suspiciously like a WP:content fork. Vadmium ( talk, contribs) 03:36, 13 January 2013 (UTC).
I also agree with User:Vadmium. /dev/zero is however conceptually different and shouldn't be merged in. WinTakeAll ( talk) 04:25, 1 March 2014 (UTC)
Nothing of major importance, just might be a nice addition to the references. In the PC game "Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption", there is a non playable character called Dev/Null, a crazy (not just) computer genius Vampire. Sadly he isn't mentioned on the Wikipedia site of the game, but more about him can be found here:
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Dev/Null
-- Sephtan ( talk) 02:14, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 14:33, 1 April 2016 (UTC)
![]() | This article is rated Start-class on Wikipedia's
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/dev/null is a file system abstraction of a data sink in Unix-style operating systems, following a producer/consumer pattern.
NULL (sometimes listed as null or NUL) is a constant in many referring to a pointer construct with points to nothing in memory or within a namespace. Also, NUL is the constant mapped to 0 in the official ASCII table and many other character encodings.
NUL linking to /dev/null? Or is size of the /dev/null article the issue? Maybe a 'Data sink' article? The concept of data sink does apply to other parts of computing too (networking, synchronous systems).
-- CrixDev ( talk) 14:51, 5 October 2011 (UTC)
In Windows NT, it works somewhat like UNIX, but with a bit of DOS compatibility added in. Like UNIX, NT has a single root directory, but called \ instead of /. (NT's root directory can be considered to be on a RAM disk.) NT's equivalent to /dev is the \Device directory. Inside it is the \Device\Null device node, which works identically to UNIX's /dev/null.
The Win32 function for opening files, CreateFile, has a DOS compatibility layer. It translates filenames from DOS format into the native NT format. DOS devices are located in the NT directory \??. When opening the special file NUL:, CreateFile actually translates your request into opening the NT native file \??\NUL. \??\NUL is a symbolic link to \Device\Null.
[1] is a great program for exploring the native NT file system.
--- Myria 07:54, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
How is dev/null different than a trashcan in today's modern OSs? -- Navstar 21:01, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
I found that it is somewhat difficult to link to this article because of the leading slash. Also, the article is technically a subpage, right?
The following doesn't work right because the leading slash makes the link relative to the current page (or is it the top-level page?):
[[/dev/null]] → produces → /dev/null
I was successfully able to link the the article using a leading colon in the link href:
[[:/dev/null]] → produces → /dev/null
Now I can't find a way to link to the talk page of the article!
[[Talk:/dev/null]] → produces → Talk:/dev/null
[[Talk::/dev/null]] → produces → [[Talk::/dev/null]]
[[:Talk:/dev/null]] → produces → Talk:/dev/null
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Blooper Glooper ( talk • contribs) 02:03, 4 February 2007 (UTC1)
full/not full? dimensions of dev/null - 0 or approaching infinity? is the null device equally available to an infinite number of simultaneously executing threads? User:.digamma/null —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.82.74.18 ( talk) 22:11, 11 March 2008 (UTC)
Powerbook G4 advert was completely irrelevant and planted by Mac a fanboi. 17:38, 23 February 2009 [User:79.73.196.40]]
when electrical current powers the computer, data is written, when that data is deleted, the energy escapes via /dev/null (among other ways)
electricity converted into bits. removed bits go to dev/null -- the hardware has a metal device that dumps heat from /dev/null —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.18.203.236 ( talk) 06:41, 25 September 2010 (UTC)
I suggest renaming and expanding the scope of this page from /dev/null to Null device. I think it is better to use English rather than computer codes and abbreviations. Also this would avoid all the Media Wiki subpage technicalities mentioned above. Once renamed, then I would suggest merging NUL:, which looks suspiciously like a WP:content fork. Vadmium ( talk, contribs) 03:36, 13 January 2013 (UTC).
I also agree with User:Vadmium. /dev/zero is however conceptually different and shouldn't be merged in. WinTakeAll ( talk) 04:25, 1 March 2014 (UTC)
Nothing of major importance, just might be a nice addition to the references. In the PC game "Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption", there is a non playable character called Dev/Null, a crazy (not just) computer genius Vampire. Sadly he isn't mentioned on the Wikipedia site of the game, but more about him can be found here:
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Dev/Null
-- Sephtan ( talk) 02:14, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Null device. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{
Sourcecheck}}
).
This message was posted before February 2018.
After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than
regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors
have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the
RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{
source check}}
(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— cyberbot II Talk to my owner:Online 14:33, 1 April 2016 (UTC)