Re: [PATCH, RFC] btrfs-progs: require mkfs -f force option to overwrite filesystem or partition table

[Stefan Behrens <sbehrens@giantdisaster.de>]

On Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:30:03 -0600, Eric Sandeen wrote:
> The core of this is shamelessly stolen from xfsprogs.
> 
> Use blkid to detect an existing filesystem or partition
> table on any of the target devices.  If something is found,
> require the '-f' option to overwrite it, hopefully avoiding
> disaster due to mistyped devicenames, etc.
> 
> # mkfs.btrfs /dev/sda1
> 
> WARNING! - Btrfs v0.20-rc1-59-gd00279c-dirty IS EXPERIMENTAL
> WARNING! - see http://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org before using
> 
> /dev/sda1 appears to contain an existing filesystem (xfs).
> Use the -f option to force overwrite.
> #
> 
> This does introduce a requirement on libblkid.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Eric Sandeen <sandeen@redhat.com>

This means that it is now required to change all occurrences of
"mkfs.btrfs" to "mkfs.btrfs -f" everywhere. Can't we first establish a
time period of 100 years where the -f option is tolerated and ignored,
and then in 2113 we require that the users add the -f option?

(Just had to do this string replacement everywhere, and had to add -f to
xfstest's _scratch_mkfs in common.rc as well). Sigh.