/dev/zero

[sean]

my fondest memories of /dev/zero involve warezing to ratio sites 
wherein, eg, you upload 1 byte of data and get to download 10 bytes.  
you would create a large file full of zeroes so it compresses nicely for 
fast transfer and upload it to turn ratio sites into leech sites just 
like that.

zero and random can also be used in a pinch to test devices for 
thoroughput and reliability if you don't have better tools available. 

zeroing out a hard drive 7 times i'm told is a good way to prevent most 
people from recovering data from the disk.  i don't know how accurate 
this is anymore with newer technologies.

--sean

Kenneth wrote:

>I've used this for cleaning disks, or for creating an empty file to write a
>filesystem on for loopback mounts.  The other reply was insightful, you
>probably wouldn't have much use for it as a user, it's more an administration
>tool.
>
>
>--- Mike <bmike101 at cox.net> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>That was fun! I read about a file today called /dev/zero that contains an 
>>endless stream of zeros. This piqued my interest: "What  does this look 
>>like," I thought. So I typed 'jpico /dev/zero' and guess what happened! 
>>NOTHING. 
>>
>>The enter went to the next line but nothing happened. No pretty colors and 
>>prompt. 
>>
>>What use is this device?
>>
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