Visibility of devices on /dev/XXX and why it is necessary to mount to see file system on XXX ?
by rwx from LinuxQuestions.org on (#4W7B4)
Hi,
I have a newbie question.
When I plug in my USB, I can see the partition by listing the /dev directory. That gives me the impression that the device is visible/accessible. It isn't obvious, at least to me, why that same visibility doesn't allow visibility in to files on that partition,and instead a mount to that point is required. Does a ls of /dev only show files of a given file descriptor ( opaque objects with a file descriptor giving a name and some other details but no information required to read the files ) ?
I understand that a mount is needed but don't understand why ?
Any help will be appreciated.
I have a newbie question.
When I plug in my USB, I can see the partition by listing the /dev directory. That gives me the impression that the device is visible/accessible. It isn't obvious, at least to me, why that same visibility doesn't allow visibility in to files on that partition,and instead a mount to that point is required. Does a ls of /dev only show files of a given file descriptor ( opaque objects with a file descriptor giving a name and some other details but no information required to read the files ) ?
I understand that a mount is needed but don't understand why ?
Any help will be appreciated.