David Both is an Open Source Software and GNU/Linux advocate, trainer, writer, and speaker. He has been working with Linux and Open Source Software since 1996 and with computers since 1969. He is a strong proponent of and evangelist for the "Linux Philosophy for System Administrators."
He has written articles for magazines including, Linux Magazine, Linux Journal, and OS/2 Magazine back when there was such a thing. He currently writes prolifically for OpenSource.com. He particularly enjoys learning new things while researching his books and articles, building his own computers, and helping his grandchildren build their computers. He has found some interesting
and unusual ways of problem solving, including sitting on one computer on which he was working.
David has published five books with Apress. Four solo works, “The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins,” August 2018, and a three volume self-study training course, “Using and Administering Linux — From Zero to SysAdmin,” released in December, 2019. He has also written one book with co-author Cyndi Bulka, "Linux for Small Business Owners" that was released in 2022.
David currently lives in Raleigh, NC, with his amazing and supportive wife, Alice.
He can be reached via email at LinuxGeek46@both.org or on Mastodon at @LinuxGeek46@linuxrocks.online.
Authored Comments
The short answer is yes, Linux has been doing just as you suggest for quite some time, now. I am sure it seems that there are many more device files than actual devices, but most are actually used in one way or another.
My article "Managing devices in Linux" at https://opensource.com/article/16/11/managing-devices-linux does talk about exactly this.
Thanks for your question.
Proponents of BTRFS take heart! I have tried BTRFS in the past and I will try it again at some point, because BTRFS. but I will start on a couple test hosts I have for that type of thing. The last time I tried BTRFS was a problem because the file system check program was not bug-free and I lost some data as a result.
So, in the meantime, would any of you BTRFS fans out there like to write an article similar to this one about BTRFS? Contact me via email: David.Both@Opensource.com if you want to do that. Thanks!