From: ansimar@arh0065.urh.uiuc.edu ()
Newsgroups: alt.dev.null,alt.answers
Subject: alt.dev.null faq
Date: 18 Mar 1997 02:21:58 GMT
Approved: ansimar@uiuc.edu
Message-ID: <5gku86$and@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu>


	The alt.dev.null FAQ 
	____________________

Last modified: 3/11/97
Maintained by Raymond M. Reskusich
		reskusic@uiuc.edu





Q:  What is this group for, anyway?

A:  As all good UNIX users know, every operating system needs what is
called affectionately "the bit bucket", a dark hole into which one streams
all of the data one really had no interest in seeing in the first place.
For UNIX, the bit bucket is /dev/null, an imaginary device that just spews
your misunderstood data into the ether.  For instance, if a UNIX hacker
were to execute the following command:

snoopy~> cat porn.txt > /dev/null

he would be printing his pornography into nothingness, where only the odd
ether-mite would be able to disrespect him for it.

Q:  O.k., hot-shot, you explained the name, now answer the first question,
eh?

A:  No respect for elders these days.  The job of alt.dev.null is to serve
as the bit bucket for the entire ethernet, more or less.  Send all the
data that you don't want to see, can't use, or are in general sick of, but
in some way stuck with, here.  

Q:  Why is this a useful thing?

A:  Some machines, such as Macintoshes, are built without internal bit
buckets.  Without this valuable feature, these machines tend to overload
themsekves with the weight of all the useless information.  This is why
Macs crash so much.  owners of such machines can just send all of their
garbage data here, and thus alleviate their karmic burden.  As time goes
on, scripts will be posted here to allow users of various machines to
automatically use this group as their bit bucket. These scripts, being
essentially useless and unwanted, will be quite at home here. 

-- 
___

Raymond M. Reskusich
reskusic@uiuc.edu
http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/reskusic

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