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Date:      Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:27:42 +0200
From:      cpghost <cpghost@cordula.ws>
To:        Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Versioning File System for FreeBSD?
Message-ID:  <20090625132742.GA882@phenom.cordula.ws>
In-Reply-To: <20090625003323.cd7021a3.freebsd@edvax.de>
References:  <20090624150422.GA2307@phenom.cordula.ws> <20090624163755.GA71757@slackbox.xs4all.nl> <20090624175918.GA2948@phenom.cordula.ws> <20090624191125.GA75991@slackbox.xs4all.nl> <20090624215734.GA3720@phenom.cordula.ws> <20090625003323.cd7021a3.freebsd@edvax.de>

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On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 12:33:23AM +0200, Polytropon wrote:
> On Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:57:34 +0200, cpghost <cpghost@cordula.ws> wrote:
> > Yep, you're right. I thought about a way to extend the API in a
> > backwards compatible way, but that's not as easy or straight
> > forward as it seems. In fact, it opens a whole can of worms.
> > 
> > If the versioned file system isn't also POSIX compatible (where
> > everything happens in HEAD unless specified otherwise), it's
> > practically useless.
> 
> The question is: Do you want to take versioning support into
> the file system intendedly? FreeBSD keeps most things on a
> per-file basis (ordinary files, devices, processes etc.).
> Versioning can always be added as a separate solution
> (using versioning systems as separate programs) that does
> not make any assumptions on the file system used. As you
> concluded, the file system's complexity would of course
> grow with those requirements. In addition to your arguments,
> just imagine how a fsck for such a file system would have
> to be implemented...

Yep. The more I think about it, the less obvious it becomes.
IMHO, file versioning a la VMS would be possible (somehow),
but everything beyond that (esp. directory versioning)
requires a LOT of careful thinking.

-cpghost.

-- 
Cordula's Web. http://www.cordula.ws/



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