View source for Devfsd

{{Refimprove|date=June 2011}}
{{Lowercase title}}
{{Infobox Software
|name                       = devfsd
|logo                       = 
|screenshot                 = 
|caption                    = 
|collapsible                = 
|author                     = 
|developer                  = Richard Gooch
|released                   = 
|frequently_updated         =
|programming language       = 
|operating system           = [[Linux kernel]]
|discontinued               = yes
|platform                   = 
|size                       = 
|language                   = 
|genre                      = [[Daemon (computing)|daemon]]
|license                    = [[GNU General Public License]] (GPL)
|website                    = {{URL|http://www.safe-mbox.com/~rgooch/linux/}}
}}
'''devfsd''' is a device manager for the [[Linux kernel]]. Primarily, it creates [[device node]]s in the {{mono|[[Filesystem Hierarchy Standard|/dev]]}} directory when kernel drivers make the underlying hardware accessible.<ref name=gooch>{{cite web |url=http://www.safe-mbox.com/~rgooch/linux/docs/devfs.html |author=Richard Gooch |title=Linux Devfs (Device File System) FAQ. |date=20 August 2002 |accessdate=2011-06-21}}</ref> The nodes exist in a virtual [[device file]] system named [[devfs]]. In systems that support many different types of hardware, each of which has its own device nodes, this is more convenient than creating all possible device nodes beforehand and in a real [[filesystem]].

While devfs was a step forward, it had several disadvantages of its own.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/udev_vs_devfs |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110411233322/http://kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/kernel/hotplug/udev_vs_devfs |title=udev and devfs - The final word |accessdate=2014-05-10 |archivedate=2011-04-11 |format=Plain text |author=[[Greg Kroah-Hartman]]}}</ref> Since version 2.5 of the Linux kernel, devfs has been succeeded by [[udev]] and devtmpfs.<ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://lwn.net/Articles/331818/
 | title = The return of devfs
 | date = 2009-05-06 | accessdate = 2015-11-22
 | author = Jake Edge | publisher = [[LWN.net]]
}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Linux|Free and open-source software}}
* [[sysfs]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.safe-mbox.com/~rgooch/linux/}}

{{Linux}}
{{Linux kernel}}

[[Category:Computer configuration]]
[[Category:Linux file system-related software]]
[[Category:Linux kernel-related software]]
[[Category:Unix file system-related software]]