Linux 6.9 Deprecates The EXT2 File-System Driver

While Linux 6.9 brings many great changes and new features / hardware support, on the deprecation side it's deprecating the classic EXT2 file-system driver.

The EXT2 file-system has been around for thirty years, it's been over two decades since EXT3 and a decade and a half since EXT4 has been stable in the Linux kernel. EXT2 use has been on the decline and likely just in use for accessing old storage devices / legacy Linux distribution installs.

It's being deprecated now though since the file-system driver doesn't support dates beyond the year 2038 as part of the Y2038 problem. Due to not properly supporting timestamps beyond 19 January 2038, Linux developers are now encouraging any remaining EXT2 users to upgrade to using the EXT4 driver to access their file-system. The EXT4 driver is able to handle EXT2 file-systems while properly supporting dates past the Y2038 problem.

So for now the EXT2 driver is deprecated and its code is being kept around just for reference purposes but will likely be removed in the years to come. Over on the Bootlin blog is more details on the EXT2 driver deprecation.