Meaning of /dev/null | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A device file, present in Unix and Unix-like operating systems, that discards all data written to it and yields no output, always being as an empty file when read.
2. Nowhere; often suggests an intent to ignore specific correspondence.
   Internet, figuratively

Examples

“It's possible to suppress the compiler's warnings by redirecting standard error to /dev/null.”

“To avoid problems when running the script, the output of man man was sent to /dev/null instead of sending it to a real terminal. This has the effect of discarding the already formatted text of the retrieved page.”

“[...] we reserve file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 by opening /dev/null and duplicating the file descriptor returned. /dev/null is a pseudo-driver that forces read to return 0 and write to return as if the entire amount requested had been written. This makes library routines that use file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 harmless.”

“Continuing in the Unix tradition of treating everything as a file, you can redirect a command's output to the null file, /dev/null. The null file consumes all output sent to it, as if /dev/null is a black hole star.”

“Thoughtful discussion and criticism is welcomed, but please send all flames to dev null.”

“suddenly the RLP calls form atlanta apparently go to dev null.”

“The email will explicitly state that you cannot reply to the email, it will go to dev null.”

CEFR level