this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (34 children)

The I/O size is a reason why it's better to use cp than dd to copy an ISO to a USB stick. cp automatically selects an I/O size which should yield good performance, while dd's default is extremely small and it's necessary to specify a sane value manually (e.g. bs=1M).

With "everything" being a file on Linux, dd isn't really special for simply cloning a disk. The habit of using dd is still quite strong for me.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Do cp capture the raw bits like dd does?

Not saying that its useful in the case you're describing but that's always been the reason I use it. When I want every bit on a disk copied to another disks, even the things with no meta data present.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

As long as you copy from the device file (/dev/whatever), you will get "the raw bits", regardless of whether you use dd, cp, or even cat.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

That makes sense. Thanks!

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