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From: hunt@dg-rtp.rtp.dg.com (Greg Hunt)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: question.
Message-ID: <1990Oct23.144759.1795@dg-rtp.dg.com>
Date: 23 Oct 90 14:47:59 GMT
References: <9409@helios.TAMU.EDU>
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In article <9409@helios.TAMU.EDU>, c029nit@utarlg.utarl.edu (NITEEN
DAMLE) writes:
> I am a novice to the UNIX and I hv a question which u people might be
able
> to answer.
> Last night I was browsing through the directories using ls command
with -l
> option. In dev directory I found letters s, c, b for some of the names
in place
> of d.
> I want to know what these letters stand for.
> Only I know that d means directory.
>                  l   "    link.      [am I correct? ] 
> 		 -   "    file.

Yup, l means the file is a symbolic link and - means it is a regular
file.  A b means it is a block special file (to be read and written
in blocks - usually 512 bytes at a chunk) and c means it is a character
special file (to be read and written a character at a time).  These two
are usually applied to devices, like disks and terminals, which is
why you found their entries in /dev.  I don't know what the s stands
for.

You can find more details in the man page for ls, which you can read
with the command "man ls".  Enjoy!

--
Greg Hunt                        Internet: hunt@dg-rtp.rtp.dg.com
DG/UX Kernel Development         UUCP:     {world}!mcnc!rti!dg-rtp!hunt
Data General Corporation
Research Triangle Park, NC       These opinions are mine, not DG's.