From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Mon, 8 Jan 2001 21:48:12 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Mon, 8 Jan 2001 21:48:03 -0500 Received: from cc493382-b.whmh1.md.home.com ([24.3.58.253]:4399 "EHLO legion.wienholt.net") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Mon, 8 Jan 2001 21:47:51 -0500 Reply-To: From: "Sean R. Bright" To: "'Michael D. Crawford'" Cc: Subject: RE: FS callback routines Message-ID: <001401c079e6$0668bbe0$59aa0141@cc230545b> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook CWS, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) In-Reply-To: <3A5A4958.CE11C79B@goingware.com> Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 21:37:05 -0500 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Agreed. I will have a look at the URLs you passed along. I was talking to a colleague about this just after I sent the initial message and the number of places where this would be useful suddenly became much more apparent to me :) For example, _ANY_ daemon process could be notified of configuration changes when they happen, mail servers/spoolers would have immediate access to the locations of files, without tying up the disk with polling. All and all a very good idea (and its not even mine anymore it would seem, so I can say that! :)) Thanks again, Sean > -----Original Message----- > From: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org > [mailto:linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org]On Behalf Of Michael D. > Crawford > Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 6:12 PM > To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org > Subject: Re: FS callback routines > > > Regarding notification when there's a change to the filesystem: > > This is one of the most significant things about the BeOS BFS > filesystem, and > something I'd dearly love to see Linux adopt. It makes an > app very efficient, > you just get notified when a directory changes and you never > waste time polling. > > I think it would require changes to the VFS layer, not just > to the filesystems, > because this is a concept POSIX filesystems do not presently possess. > > The other is indexed filesystem attributes, for example a > file can have its > mimetype in the filesystem, and any application can add an > attribute and have it > indexed. > > There's a method to do boolean queries on indexed attributes, > and you can find > files in an entire filesystem that match a query in a > blazingly short time, much > faster than walking the directory tree. > > If you want to try out the BeOS, there's a free-as-in-beer version at > http://free.be.com for Pentium PC's. You can also purchase a > version that comes > for both PC's and certain PowerPC macs. > > There are read-only versions of this for Linux which I > believe are under the > GPL. The original author is here: > > http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA008030/bfs/ > > He refers you to here to get a version that works under 2.2.16: > > http://milosch.net/beos/ > > The author's intention was to take it read-write, but it's > complex because it is > a journaling filesystem. > > Daniel Berlin, a BeOS developer modified the Linux BFS driver > so it works with > 2.4.0-test1. I don't know if it works with 2.4.0. The web > site where it used > to be posted isn't there anymore, and the laptop where I had > it is in for > repair. I may have it on a backup, and I'll see if I can > track Daniel down. > > While Be, Inc.'s implementation is closed-source, the design > of the BFS (_not_ > "befs" as it is sometimes called) is explained in Practical > File System Design > with the Be File System by Dominic Giampolo, ISBN > 1-55860-497-9. Dominic has > since left Be and I understand works at Google now. > > > -- > Michael D. Crawford > GoingWare Inc. - Expert Software Development and Consulting > http://www.goingware.com/ > crawford@goingware.com > > Tilting at Windmills for a Better Tomorrow. > - > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe > linux-kernel" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/ - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/