I just learned very important things about Linux.

    -- The  "losetup"  command  knows  a  "-P"  parameter. It triggers a
       partition scan on newly created loop devices.  This  means,  when
       handling  full  disk  images which include partitions, you simply
       get "/dev/loop0p1" and friends.  That's  really,  really  useful.
       (And it has been around since 2012...)

    -- The  number  of  loop devices once was static. Since around linux
       3.1, there now is a "/dev/loop-control" which  will  be  used  by
       "losetup".  This control interface can be used to create new loop
       devices on demand. Yes, there are still eight loop  device  nodes
       by  default  ("/dev/loop0"  through "/dev/loop") but that doesn't
       mean anything. Once they're full or when  you  address  a  "dead"
       device,  it'll be created on the fly. (I'm not sure if this means
       that you can have an unlimited number of loop devices.)

    -- You can view parameters of currently  loaded  kernel  modules  in
       "/sys/module/$module/parameters/".