device file

There are four type of device files (for the corresponding type of devices)

• block_devices (such as harddisks)
• character devices (such as printers)
• pipe devices
• socket devices

The type of the device file can be shown by the first character with ls -l.

Network cards don't have an associated device file.

Device files are created with mknod. They should be created in the /dev directory.