/dev/zero

/dev/zero is the file system name of a device that constantly delivers zeroes. It is complementary to /dev/null that receives data without processing them.

Examples: dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/file Fills /tmp/file with zeroes coming from /dev/zero. dd if=/tmp/file of=/dev/null Reads /tmp/file and "throws the data away" by sending it to the null device

= See also =
 * device
 * character device