Re: [Ext2-devel] [RFC 0/13] extents and 48bit ext3

Jeff Anderson-Lee
2006-06-09T17:12:50Z

Linus Torvalds wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Jun 2006, Alex Tomas wrote:
>
> > I believe it's as stable as before until you mount with extents
> > mount option.
>
> In contrast, the last time two different filesystems introduced bugs in
> each other was approximately "never". They simply don't modify each others

> code, they don't look at each others data structures, and they don't jump
> into each others routines.

As an interested bystander (and large filesystem user), I'd say I tend to
agree with Linus and Jeff on this one.

* ext3 is arguably the main Linux filesystem: too important to keep
"experimenting" with.

* I'd encourage a >2TB version, but call it ext4. It makes it clear
that you are entering new territory.

* Take advantage of the switch to remove some of the backward compatibility
cruft from the ext4 version -- make it a clean, explicit break.

* [Possibly even inoculate ext3 against creeping featuris and work on
cleanup and optimization instead.]

This is not intended to slight the work/position of the ext3 developers,
merely to inform them of an end-user's perspective.

----
Jeff Anderson-Lee
Petabyte Storage Infrastructure Project
University of California Berkeley
"Simplify, simplify, simplify." -- Henry David Thoreau
"I think one 'simplify' would have sufficed." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson