Linux's ReiserFS Plan Is To Deprecate It, Remove The File-System In 2025

[jabl]

I just checked the commit message and interestingly enough the last commit for JFS is in Nov 2021, for a memory leak.

So I'm guessing it's being passively maintained by a few people in interests?

A lot of otherwise unmaintained code gets occasional fixes to make them compile due to other changes in the kernel, or due to issues found via scans by some tool.

AFAIU after the initial inclusion into the kernel there was minimal work done on JFS, and besides some occasional one-offs I've never heard of it being used either.

[jacob]

A subtle note; yes ext4 can mount ext3 and ext2 if you have CONFIG_EXT4_USE_FOR_EXT2=y. There does not appear to be any ext3 only code left, but there is still separate ext2 code. I imagine it is still around so you can select only ext2 to minimize kernel size.

I think it's because ext2 is still actively used in embedded systems, consumer devices etc. It has less metadata than ext4 and is more compact for very small files on very small storage, especially if it's mounted read only by default (so that the lack of journaling is not a problem). I remember that it was even used on floppies.

[jacob]

Linux-JFS was derived from OS2. It's completely different from the AIX-one.

This fact was even used to dismiss part of SCO's lunatic allegations.

[uxmkt]

Another problem was that for some reason that I forgot it was not possible to use it [reiserfs] on loopback mounted disk images, which was particularly annoying at a time when virtualisation was starting to become more mainstream (with VMWare).

Possibly that the repair tool, when run on /dev/sda, would find your loopback file and treat part of the content as belonging to the sda filesystem. It's a fear that could be raised with any filesystem repair tool that scans the disk in the absence or ignorance of the (possibly damaged) block/extent map, because the magic number for data structures(^1), if there even is one, seldomly includes the per-filesystem UUID.

^1 For example, `fs/xfs/libxfs/xfs_format.h:#define XFS_DINODE_MAGIC 0x494e`.

$ ls -ilgo xfs_format.h
1431656793 -rw-r--r-- 1 61297 Jan 19 23:35 libxfs/xfs_format.h
# hexdump -Cs $[1431656793*512] /dev/mapper/cr-auto-1 | head -n 10
08a78400 49 4e 81 a4 03 02 00 00 00 00 02 21 00 00 02 21 |IN.........!...!|

[PuckPoltergeist]

I bet there are plenty of mainframes out there running JFS.

You're speaking about AIX? zSeries doesn't use JFS. And Linux-JFS was derived from OS2. It's completely different from the AIX-one.

[jacob]

I don't think I've ever used ReiserFS. I vaguely remember it being an option at install time back with SuSE 9.3(?), reading the "still experimental" warning and going with... uh... XFS? I forget precisely.

IIRC ReiserFS was the first journaling filesystem for Linux and SuSE used it briefly. XFS came shortly after but I think for a while it was not even mainlined. One of the problems with ReiserFS was that it was block-based not extent-based like XFS, so it was extremely inefficient for large files (but good for small ones). Another problem was that for some reason that I forgot it was not possible to use it on loopback mounted disk images, which was particularly annoying at a time when virtualisation was starting to become more mainstream (with VMWare).

[Paradigm Shifter]

I don't think I've ever used ReiserFS. I vaguely remember it being an option at install time back with SuSE 9.3(?), reading the "still experimental" warning and going with... uh... XFS? I forget precisely.

There is nothing funny about a man who murdered his wife, it's not something one should talk lightly about.

There's nothing funny about murder period. That doesn't stop a chunk of the internet, on Twitter etc. who seem to think making death threats or SWATting people is akin to classic comedy.

[CommunityMember]

His sentence is what the judge decided and hopefully he will be released once he served it in full and not before.

The sentence is 15 to life. He will only be released before the life part if the parole board believes that he is truly reformed, and is no longer a threat to society.

By the way IANAL but I don't see how hiding the body could be a mitigating circumstance.

He was convicted of 1st degree murder (that can mean 25 to life, or life without parole, or even death (but California has suspended capital punishment)), but because Nina's family desperately wanted closure by finding a body, they accepted a plea deal to downgrade to 2nd degree murder (15 to life) in order for Hans to show them where the body was buried. Hans agreed, and kept his part of the bargain and took the authorities right to the body without hesitation, and received 15 to life sentence.

[CommunityMember]

Hopefully not. His sentence should be 25 years to life. The only reason it's not is because the scumbag hid his wife's body.

In 2023 he will be eligible for another parole hearing. It is unlikely parole will be granted this time either since he has not done what is typically required of such inmates (accept responsibility for the crime, shown remorse, etc.), and inmates convicted of murder rarely get paroled in their first few hearings. And since late last year he has been in a prison for those with long term medical or acute mental health needs.

[jacob]

Hopefully not. His sentence should be 25 years to life. The only reason it's not is because the scumbag hid his wife's body.

His sentence is what the judge decided and hopefully he will be released once he served it in full and not before. By the way IANAL but I don't see how hiding the body could be a mitigating circumstance.