Al. C wrote:

> I've read a ton on Linux books this past year. But two things that are
> never explained well are:
>
> What is a device? By that I mean what are the entries in /dev (like
> /dev/cdrom or /dev/fd0 etc.) I don't mean what they stand for, but WHAT
> are they?
>
> Then, what is a mountpoint? What is /mnt/cdrom mean?
>

A mountpoint is a place where you can attach something to your directory
tree.
For instance when I type mount /dev/sr0 /mnt/cdrom
I make it possible to read the contents of the cd/dvd reader in /mnt/cdrom.

A device is something invented to drive me crazy. You too.
For instance my cd/dvd reader/writer is known as lun0,0,0
and /dev/cdrom /dev/dvd /dev/hdc /dev/scd0 /dev/sr0 and maybe another one.

Those who write software live in another world.