udev

udev (userspace /dev) is a device manager and a device API set for the Linux kernel. As the successor of devfsd and hotplug, udev primarily manages device nodes in the /dev directory. At the same time, udev also handles all user space events raised when hardware devices are added into the system or removed from it, including firmware loading as required by certain devices. udev was developed by Greg Kroah-Hartman and Kay Sievers, with much help from Dan Stekloff, among others.