Messages in this thread | | | Date | Wed, 23 Dec 1998 14:33:34 +1100 | From | Steve Smith <> | Subject | [Silliness] Re: Wanted: Secure-delete utility for Linux |
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>> IMHO the name /dev/one would be a bad idea. Becouse this could mean an >> integer one which is 00000001 for 8-bit, 0000000000000001 for 16-bit, and >> so on. >> >> I don't know a better name - but IMHO /dev/one would be a bad name. > > /dev/minusone ?
Wouldn't /dev/ff be more appropriate?? But then /dev/zero is ambiguous, possibly meaning "0". This should be /dev/00
But what about other characters?
People, we seem to have uncovered a fundamental problem in the Kernel pseudo-devices. *Not everything is covered!!* This must be rectified before 2.2!
First we need /dev/00 - ff and, to avoid any ambiguity, /dev/\"[A-Za-z0-9]\". But what of strings? How to generate strings??
At first I thought that we must generate a device driver for every possible sentence (with international support of course), until I recalled the /dev/ptmx device.
Therefore, I propose a new device: /dev/monkeys. This infinite-monkeys simulator will supply all possible combinations of strings, and selecting the required one is left to user space programs. Elegant, no?
It also has bandwidth saving advantages. Why traipse all the way across the net to Project Gutenberg when all the works of Shakespeare are in your /dev directory?
I shall start on this project as soon as the pain in my head subsides.
Steve
PS. "man tr" everybody
PPS. Sorry.
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