> Linus Torvalds wrote:
>> But _my_ point is, no user program is going to take _advantage_ of >> >>anything that only one filesystem on one system offers. >> >> > Apple does not have this problem.... > and yes, the apps will take advantage of it, which is different from > depending on it. If you use the wrong fs you will lose some of the > features of the app. > For 30 years nothing much has happened in Unix filesystem semantics > because of sheer cowardice (excepting Clearcase, which priced itself > into a niche market). It is 25 years past time for someone to change > things. That someone will have first mover advantage, and the more > little semantic features possessed the more lure there will be to use it > which will increase market share which will lure more apps into > depending on it and in a few years the other filesystems will > (deservedly) have only a small market share because the apps won't all > work on them. > Besides, there are enhancements which are simply compelling. You can > write a dramatically better performance version control system with a > much simpler design if the FS is atomic. Our transaction manager > first draft was written by a version control guy, and he would probably > be happy to tell you how lack of atomicity other than rename makes > version control software design hideous. Btw, version control for ordinary files would be a great feature. I think something like it is available through Windows 2000/3 server. Isn't it called "Shadow Copies". It works over network shares. :) It allows you to restore previous versions of the file even if you delete or overwrite it. Features like this do make a good point and helps protecting data - something that is important IMHO. http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windowsserv/2003/standard/proddocs/en-us/overview_snapshot.asp > We have the performance lead. By next year we will be stable enough for > mission critical servers, and then we start the serious semantic > enhancements. > If you don't embrace progress, then you doom Linux to following behind, > because the guys at Apple are pretty aggressive now that Jobs is back, > and they WILL change the semantics, and they will do so in compelling > ways, and Linux will be reduced to aping them when it should be leading > them. > Hans
