Re: /dev/tcp

On 23/08/2026 14:37, Lars Poulsen wrote:
> On 2026-08-19 14:20, Eli the Bearded wrote:
>> What system(s) have /dev/tcp/* natively?
>>    [...]
>>                /dev/tcp/host/port
>>           If  host  is a valid  hostname or Internet address,
>>           and port is an integer port number or service name,
>>           bash attempts to open the corresponding TCP socket.
> 
> After several days, we have now ascertained that nobody ever implemented 
> this with a true device interface - it is a fiction implemented by the 
> shell intercepting the filename and diverting it.
> 

All interfaces are fiction. In this case its one implemented by the shell

> Which is kinda strange. It seems like it should be easier to really do 
> it as a true device interface. It would be easier for quick-and-dirty 
> programs than the socket interface. Maybe the problem is the DNS lookup 
> would have to be done below the kernel boundary? But would it really be 
> that much harder than the weird stuff done with virtual file systems?
> 
Sockets were always crap. There are other options for specific 
connections e.g. curl and friends.

-- 
“when things get difficult you just have to lie”

― Jean Claud Jüncker