ChromeOS Drops Support For EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 File-Systems

[carewolf]

Wait, a Linux distro that doesn't support Linux file systems?

Are they trolling?

It does support renaming. I have no idea what they are talking about. I would guess trolling or some other reason. Also NTFS? The support for that is not fully stable.

[waxhead]

Don't be evil my ass...

[ObiWan]

Well for external USB drives on a OS that is targeted for non techy customers, it makes sense to limit support for non "standard" file systems.
It reduces the danger that someone would accidently use ext4, for a flash drive and blames google that it doesn't work on his windows machines.

Ext4 will still be supported in the kernel, because google uses it as system file system, so we can just mount the ext4 flash drive manually.

[Guest]

Kind of curious as to how many people would honestly be interested in formatting an external disk with ext2/3/4 with ChromeOS?

I trust Google has some kind of actual reasoning for removing support for those filesystems; I don't think they would do it for fun. But in any case, who will honestly have a horrible experience because of this decision? Just my personal view here, but I can't seriously imagine someone who uses ChromeOS having to format an external drive to ext2/3/4 under dire consequences for any reason. Wouldn't you rather use a desktop, laptop or VM with a mainstream Linux distro to handle drive formatting?

[schmidtbag]

I don't see what the big deal is. This is ChromeOS we're talking about, so they could use FAT32 and that would still be good enough.

But Google's reasoning for ditching ext4 is pretty stupid. First of all, if anyone wants to retain multi-platform compatibility, they shouldn't be creating a filesystem in EXT4. Second, what would be the purpose of renaming the boot drive? And third, why can't google just create a utility that allows you to rename an EXT4 partition without unmounting it?

[blackiwid]

you all dont get it, when I say linux I mean GNU/Linux, would be better to call it always Gnu/linux even GNU alone would be better, because GNU is a OS, or if you dont like it you could call it Ubuntu or Fedora or etc...

That kind of OSes, So but even if you disagree here with me Linux itself if you dont call it taht way because of lazyness means only that it uses the same kernel, ontop of that only kernel u can do more or less what u want.
Linux is the kernel, and if you call your os Linux it doesnt mean anything but that u use this kernel.

And Google is way smarter than u all are. They call their oses Android OS and Chrome OS not even Chrome Linux OS, just Chrome OS. Because nobody except some linux trolls calls the os like the kernel.

As another example its the bsd kernel, so and even if you would mean that Linux is the real name of taht what I call GNU/Linux, so where is your problem then in your definition Chrome OS is no "linux". You have to desite, at least if you call a os "Linux" do you mean any os that uses Linux, or do you mean that what I would call GNU/Linux.

if you call every os with llinux kernel "linux" where is the problem? if you mean GNU/Linux where is the problem? Google dont use the name Linux for its OS.

[GraysonPeddie]

There is no mentioning of flash drives in the article, so I did react at first and when I read the thread, it all makes sense. Google wants to target Windows users who spent a lot of time in the cloud and get them to use Chromebook on-the-go when they don't need to be running Windows applications. I suppose I could mount a flash drive with ext4 partition manually as well, but I don't think it's meant to target Linux users; not even accessing SSH from a Chromebook by making a Linux terminal available to non-Linux users out there.

So my opinion for the article is it's sensationalism at best.

[GreatEmerald]

And what about UDF? I'm using UDF for all my cross-OS storage needs, for instance.

[jrdls]

Theodore Ts'o, the maintainer of the ext4 filesystem, works at google. Just sayin'...

[Adarion]

Phoronix: ChromeOS Drops Support For EXT2/EXT3/EXT4 File-Systems

W.T.F.?!

Are these folks nuts?
1st: ext2/3/4 is okay
2nd: WTF? VFAT? NTFS?
Those aren't good file systems or / and they are patent encumbered!
In the end LOTs of companies ended up paying a BAZILLION Euros/Dollars to Mickeysoft because they had some VFAT support built in. Android anyone? Yes, some of these patents are likely obsolete, trivial and silly but anyway - that did not stop anybody from paying. Google is endagering everybody using this ChromeOS as well as it happened with Android. MS made more money from Android than WP. Damnit!