Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf.edu!root From: root@cca.ucsf.edu (Systems Staff) Newsgroups: comp.os.minix Subject: Re: switching file systems Summary: Let's not be short-sighted about this. Message-ID: <2454@ucsfcca.ucsf.edu> Date: 5 Oct 89 00:06:44 GMT References: <24987@louie.udel.EDU> Organization: Computer Center, UCSF Lines: 43 In article <24987@louie.udel.EDU>, Leisner.Henr@xerox.com (marty) writes: > I think imposing a file system switch and insisting users tar-out + tar-in > is sinful. > > The kernel switch a la V8 is a good idea and should be simple enough. I find it hard to believe that someone as knowledgeable as Marty could have written this. Putting in a kludge like dual file-system formats just to avoid a simple one time operation is not sensible. Remember, you are going to back up your disk before you install the new system anyway, aren't you? Aren't you? Fine, so you have to have and handle all these disks, identify your valuable data, organize your backups logically, etc. That's the hard part. All you could save is reading the data back in. Pretty small potatoes. And what would you have to swallow to save this? Well, the handling of a critical element of the system would get more complicated and bug-prone as well as having extra overhead. And this would go on and on and .. Not only that, but you would create inescapable bugs. Any program which expected to see a correct response to a stat call would be vulnerable because you can't treat the date_time information correctly. You just can't correctly simulate the behaviour of three time entries with only one. And no Posix conformance ... Thos Sumner Internet: thos@cca.ucsf.edu (The I.G.) UUCP: ...ucbvax!ucsfcgl!cca.ucsf!thos BITNET: thos@ucsfcca U.S. Mail: Thos Sumner, Computer Center, Rm U-76, UCSF San Francisco, CA 94143-0704 USA I hear nothing in life is certain but death and taxes -- and they're working on death. #include