The Everything Is a File Device Model
Unix systems expose hardware as files: a program opens a name under the device directory, reads and writes it, and closes it, exactly as it would a text file. That means every existing tool and language can talk to a new device with no new interface, and a driver's public face is just a handful of operations with familiar names. Without it, every device would need its own set of system calls.
Questions this Concept answers
- Why does exposing hardware through the file model cut the cost of supporting a brand new device?
The "Everything Is a File" Philosophy in UNIX
The "everything is a file" philosophy in UNIX-family operating systems is the design principle that diverse system entities — regular data, directories, executables, running processes, hardware devic…