# KC16: What is udev? What does it have to do with devfs?

## maigret

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KC16: What is udev? What does it have to do with devfs?

udev and devfs manage the device files in your /dev directory in a dynamic way. This means udev and devfs take care to create device files for you, which is as important as convenient. Actually neither devfs or udev are required, but without one of them the setup will be much more difficult. 

devfs has been removed from the Linux kernel in version 2.6.13 and later. If you are using devfs now and plan to upgrade, you will have to switch to udev. There is a FAQ about the switch at kernel.org.

The Gentoo udev Guide teaches you how to deploy udev. Further resources are the udev site at kernel.org and a guide about writing udev rules.

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## Earthwings

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