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/dev/null is an ACID compliant database

(jyu.dev)
529 points swills | 2 comments | 23 Oct 25 21:28 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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pyuser583 ◴[23 Oct 25 22:19 UTC] No.45688089[source]▶
I've used /dev/null for exactly this purpose. I have output that needs to go somewhere, and I don't want to worry about whether that somewhere can handle it.

Later on in deployment, it will go somewhere else. Somewhere that has been evaluated for being able to handle it.

In that way, /dev/null is to storage what `true` is to execution - it just works.

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CaptainOfCoit ◴[23 Oct 25 22:36 UTC] No.45688260[source]▶
Bug free software is a pipe dream, but if there is anything I've never encountered any bugs with, /dev/null and true is certainly in the top 3.
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1. MartijnBraam ◴[24 Oct 25 03:01 UTC] No.45690296[source]▶
Ah you've never encountered /dev/null not existing yet, so when you try to trash data it will actually create a normal file there so every other program that uses it will actually append that file.

Luckily it's usually a tmpfs

replies(1): >>45693879 #
2. CaptainOfCoit ◴[24 Oct 25 12:18 UTC] No.45693879[source]▶
> Ah you've never encountered /dev/null not existing yet

I feel like that'd happen because of some other bug, I wouldn't consider that a bug in /dev/null :)