Null: Difference between revisions

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The null device is located in /dev/null usually and discards any data written to it.  It's sort of a black hole that eats everything that comes close to it. Unwanted output in shells can be redirected to /dev/null:
The null device located in /dev/null discards any data written to it.  It's a black hole that eats everything that is sent to it. Unwanted output in shells can be redirected to /dev/null. Here is an example crontab where /dev/null is used to prevent emails from being sent:
In case of a crontab entry output can be discarded causing no mails to be sent:
  */5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/fetchmail > /dev/null 2>&1
  */5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/fetchmail > /dev/null 2>&1

Latest revision as of 08:02, 25 October 2005

The null device located in /dev/null discards any data written to it. It's a black hole that eats everything that is sent to it. Unwanted output in shells can be redirected to /dev/null. Here is an example crontab where /dev/null is used to prevent emails from being sent:

*/5 * * * * /usr/local/bin/fetchmail > /dev/null 2>&1