Re: Pre-linux Windows program - was Re: bill gates Linux
On Sun, Dec 08, 2002 at 04:30:10PM +0100, Emile van Bergen wrote:
> Another idea: why not support an installation in an ext2 filesystem
> which is really a big file on a Windows VFAT partition, mounted using a
> loopback device? That would do away with all the partitioning; that
> would only be needed when the user wants to get rid of the relatively
> minor performance penalty of the extra FS layer.
Are VFAT partitions still common? I thought Windows 2000 and XP both
used NTFS by default. And last time I tried (about a year ago, I think)
mounting NTFS read-write on Linux was still flaky.
I also question whether the performance penalty would be "relatively minor",
especially if you treat the swap device the same way. But that can be
measured. If it's significant, then I think this option should not be
encouraged, because it would give Linux an undeserved bad name among
precisely the people we hope to convert.
Richard Braakman
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