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The elusive goal of Unix – or Linux – is simplicity
(www.theregister.com)
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this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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Everything is a file. Your past, your present, hopes and dreams, loved ones: it's all a file. That's the true goal of Linux.
I'm gonna file a complaint…
Is a link to a file... A file?
Yes.
A hardlink is the original file.
Thanks for the clarification ! I guess everything is a file in Linux ?
Used to be. But then systemD attacked...
What in systemd is not a file?
Of course it's all stored in the filesystem, so there isn't anything that isn't technically a file.
But, for instance, while as before you'd have a simple log file you could access directly, now you have a binary blob that is inaccessible without systemD itself.
The are other numerous better exceptions that are better examples than systemD. DBus, for instance. InfernoOS is an interesting example of taking the "everything is a file" to heart.