Bcachefs Multi-Device Users Should Avoid Linux 6.7: "A Really Horific Bug"

[tholin]

Just curious, has anyone using this fs and got affected by this?

Looks like it's this problem: https://github.com/koverstreet/bcachefs/issues/656
So a bunch of people are affected.

[Vermilion]

sorry, but there has not yet been eaten data. Unless you did something stupid while trying to fix your broken FS the data is there and is recoverable.

The point is not whether data was lost or not yet, but that every piece of software, filesystems included, is prone to unforeseen bugs. So there's no point in using such a grandiose motto.

[Hans Bull]

How is that possible? 10 comments without fitzie farting on bcachefs and its creator?

[fitzie]

How is that possible? 10 comments without fitzie farting on bcachefs and its creator?

Because I raised this issue weeks before this actual event. There's actually nothing new here if you have been paying attention. Also, I never have attacked bcachefs, quite the opposite, you can see I defended all it's slow performance numbers in the benchmark articles.

This issue and all other issues I've raised are 100% about kent. Even in this instance, he has patches to fix 6.7 kernel, there's in a git repo. But he's so involved in a fight with the stable team, that he's telling his users that the only option is to move from 6.7 kernel. And the bug itself is very odd, he says it's upgrading "tools" that triggers it. Why not revert the tools change? So he engineered this entire bug, avoid announcing the location of a 6.7 patch, and is currently advocating that no one from the stable team should ever go on vacation.

This was kent's response three days ago,

> > Why wasn't this applied?
>
> Because our queue is huge and 1/2 of the stable team is finally taking
> his first vacation in years (and regretting reading email during it
> right now)? Relax, it will get there, backport requests like this not
> being handled in 48 hours seems like a big ask, don't you think?

Ok - sorry for bothering you then

and now he's putting all the blame on the stable team (and lying about it). Kent's approach and attitude is a great risk to his users right now. The path he is on will lead to his own burnout. He's so stubborn (and his defenders too) that when anyone tries to give to point it out, it's dismissed as an attack instead of the advice that it is.

[fitzie]

Looks like it's this problem: https://github.com/koverstreet/bcachefs/issues/656
So a bunch of people are affected.

it's really amazing that he waited five days after this to send notice, didn't revert the tools update that triggered the issue, and didn't mention the patch that people could apply themselves to 6.7. Like the people using the stable tree don't know how to apply patches.

[Solaris17]

You guys need to get your shit together - I've already let people know
that 6.7 is not safe to use and they need to immediately upgrade to 6.8,
but unfortunately not everyone will see that.

This is going to cause people reall pain.

His attitude certainly hasnt seemed to improve.

[varikonniemi]

The point is not whether data was lost or not yet, but that every piece of software, filesystems included, is prone to unforeseen bugs. So there's no point in using such a grandiose motto.

"eating your data" is commonly understood as "files gone and unrecoverable". It is even quoted in the article itself, bcachefs is designed in such a way that there should be enough metadata to recover your data. Worst case you lose the directory structure and will find your files in lost+found

[sophisticles]

This is why for many things you don't immediately jump to the latest and greatest until it has been thoroughly field tested by chumps, I mean early adopters.

This goes on Windows, Linux, Unix, Solaris, BeOS, Mac OS, I don't care, you don't trust something as critical as your data to a newcomer.

I stuck with Win 2k for years until i had no choice but to upgrade to Win XP because i needed DX8, i stuck with XP until I had no choice but to upgrade to Win 7 and so on.

On Linux I stuck with XFS for years before I used EXT4 and I have no intention of moving to a new file system until i have no choice.

I remember trying Btrfs with Fedora on a test system and losing everything on the drive, which didn't matter since i back everything up to multiple drives but still a pain in the ass.

My advice to Linux users, pretend that no other filesystem exists and stick with EXT4 until it gets deprecated.

[Volta]

"The COW filesystem for Linux that won't eat your data".

Kent forgot to add: when it's stable.

[TiCPU]

Just curious, has anyone using this fs and got affected by this?

Yup. I submitted that bug a couple days ago while switching kernels to do performance testing. My filesystem was unmountable. 30 minutes later I had a 6.8 kernel with no brain split check to mount it. I've seen another person affected during that same day or IRC. Thanks to Kent, I was able to get a quick patch! He takes those bugs pretty seriously.