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Bcachefs may be headed out of the kernel

(lwn.net)
144 points ksec | 1 comments | 04 Jul 25 13:32 UTC | HN request time: 0.222s | source
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zahlman ◴[04 Jul 25 22:02 UTC] No.44468213[source]▶
Does the filesystem actually need to be part of the kernel project to work? I can see where you'd need that for the root filesystem, but even then, couldn't one migrate an existing installation to a new partition with a different filesystem?
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1. topspin ◴[05 Jul 25 04:31 UTC] No.44470079[source]▶
No, it does not. It might need to be part of the kernel to be included downstream in Linux distributions, if the file system developer fails to maintain distro buildable modules that don't eat people's data. Should developers provide workable modules, getting these modules into most distros is generally unhindered.

And no, it's not necessary even for root file systems. Linux can load modules, such as file system drivers, before it mounts root. That's what initramfs is about.

ZFSoL has thrived for 15 years, fostering several commercial empires, and has never been in Linus's mainline.

Bcachefs development may continue as Kent Overstreet wishes, and he need not squabble with Linus going forward. Seems like an entirely workable outcome. Kudos to Linus for a.) giving Kent a chance, despite known issues with Kent, and b.) making the difficult decision to reverse himself. Both of these decisions were correct.

What I learn from all of this is that Linus is still in the saddle and still making good calls. We are blessed.