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/dev/null
In Unix-like operating systems, /dev/null or the null device is a special file that discards all data written to it (but reports that the write operation succeeded) and provides no data to any process that reads from it (yielding EOF immediately).[1] In programmer jargon, especially Unix jargon, it may also be called the bit bucket[2] or black hole.
Usage
The null device is typically used for disposing of unwanted output streams of a process, or as a convenient empty file for input streams. This is usually done by redirection. /dev/null is a special file, not a directory, so one cannot move files into it with the Unix mv command. The rm command is the proper way to delete files in Unix. This concept is roughly equivalent to the NUL: or just NUL device of CP/M, DOS and Windows, the \Device\Null or NUL of Windows NT and its successors, the NIL: of Amiga operating systems, and the NL: of OpenVMS. In Windows Powershell, the .NET-based command-line interpreter, the equivalent is $null.
References
[1] Single Unix Specification Section 10.1 (http:/ / www. opengroup. org/ onlinepubs/ 000095399/ basedefs/ xbd_chap10. html) [2] Jargon file entry for "bit bucket" (http:/ / catb. org/ esr/ jargon/ html/ B/ bit-bucket. html) [3] The Linux Kernel Archives FAQ (http:/ / www. kernel. org/ faq/ #spam) at kernel.org
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported http:/ / creativecommons. org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3. 0/