On 2021-05-16 at 18:33, Stefan Monnier wrote: >> When copying a file and writing it to another medium, perhaps eg when writing >> a DVD .iso file directly to a USB stick, it's ideal. > > Not sure about ideal: > > cat <foo.iso >/dev/sdb > > is one char longer than > > dd <foo.iso >/dev/sdb > > but it's often faster (you can speed up `dd` by providing a larger > `bs=` argument, but then you've lost the length advantage ;-)
Is there really no functional difference between the baseline trivial functionalities of cat and dd? From quite a long time ago, I thought there were contexts in which writing a suitably-prepared data file directly to a block device using cat would produce incorrect results, but using dd would work out fine. I can't remember any of the potential specifics, though, so it's possible I'm mixing one or both of them up with something else... -- The Wanderer The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. -- George Bernard Shaw
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