On Wed, Nov 06, 2002 at 10:08:13AM -0800, Craig Hughes wrote: > >Actually I like to think of the data going into /dev/null as being > >recycled and coming out as /dev/zero and /dev/random. ;) > > Except only half the bits are recycled to /dev/zero, and most of the > time it's very hard to get the original data back out of /dev/random > (some exceptions if you pipe the complete works of shakespeare to > /dev/null in an infinite universe).
Exactly, most of the 0's have to goto /dev/zero but based on the usage pattern of the two, some get to mix in with the 1s for /dev/random. I said "recycle" not "reuse": you put an "a" in, you may not get an "a" back. ;) -- Randomly Generated Tagline: "Finding things in my notes is like archaeology: you never know what will turn up and you have to dust everything off." - Peter Sagerson
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