[MPlayer-users] Re: Newbie can't even watch a damn dvd

[Jonathan Rogers]

Corey Hickey wrote:
> AyaneMatrix wrote:
>> First off, in order to watch DVD's you have to point it to your DVD-ROM
>> drive, which usually tends to be /dev/hdb or /dev/hdc depending on your
>> hardware setup, and using the -dvd-device switch. Never point it to a
>> symlinked device as it tends to slow down the process of viewing info off
>> discs.
> 
> 
> Are you sure about that? Why would using a symlink make a difference?

It doesn't make a difference in speed, at least not enough to be 
noticeable. The DVD drive is many times slower than the RAM or 
hard drive storing your /dev filesystem, so the DVD access time 
will certainly dominate total reading time. Symlinks are a great 
way to logically organize your system and there's no good reason 
not to use them unless you're opening files hundreds or 
thounsands of times a second, which is probably a bad idea anyway.

Jonathan Rogers