Re: UMSDOS [was: GNUnification]
Gordon Matzigkeit
>
> Hi!
>
> >>>>> Matthew Wilcox writes:
>
> MW> UMSDOS is a hideous system. I'm currently working on code which
> MW> will allow Linux to drop support for it altogether. Basically,
> MW> it's far superior to use a file on an MS-DOS filesystem as a
> MW> device on which you create an ext2 filesystem.
>
> Excellent!
>
> As soon as the Hurd has even a plain-vanilla FAT filesystem, this will
> be possible. (Every Hurd filesystem already can use a file on another
> filesystem as if it was the raw device.) However, there are still
> reasons to have something like UMSDOS, so that DOS users can read
> files that they created under the Hurd.
I think you mean msdosfs rather than UMSDOS there..
I think the HURD bootsequence may need extending to cope with installing
without repartitioning. You need to start up a msdos translator on
/dev/hd0. Then you need to run an ext2 translator, and start init,
telling it that /hurd is actually /. This shouldn't be too hard.
Yes, I know it's slow, but there are a lot of people who'll _try_
a system if it just means sacrificing some disc space. I know this,
I've done two shows now on an ARMLinux stand and the most FAQ is `can
I install it without partitioning the drive yet'.
> I envision a single filesystem server for FAT filesystems,
> `/hurd/fatfs', which will support several `--compat=' options:
>
> dos no filesystem extensions, not even long names
> vfat Windows95 long file names
> umsdos compatibility with Linux UMSDOS
> hurd use full Hurd semantics
I don't see the point of being able to install on a FAT filesystem. It
will be slower and will only lead to pain. Accept foreign filesystems
for what they are - foreign, and with different characteristics to your
own. Their only real use is as a transfer medium.
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