Ext4 – New linux filesystem & bridge to the future!

20 October 2008 by Gunthy
Filed under Linux

The head Linux kernel developer & creator, Linus Torvalds, has added a large amount of patches into the main development branch of Linux. One of the patches allows the new file-system to present itself as ext4, instead of ext4dev, which suggests that this new Ext-version is finally getting out of development phase.

However this does not mean its development has finished. Developers will still continue to make bug-fixes and add new features, with the difference that the heart of the system, called the structure, stays identical. This means users would no longer have to check if their kernel version, utilities used and drive format match up to each other.

Of course this alone doesn’t make Ext4 ready for production use. As with any new file-system, administrators in the corporate world will wait a little longer to include this and first see how the new system performs on a day-to-day basis. Another drawback is the fact that you still have to maintain one of the older file-systems, as neither the LILO or GRUB boot-loaders can successfully load the kernel off an ext4-partition.

Another important development is that there is already talk of giving Linux a new, next-generation file-system. The system of choice would be btrfs (pronounced butter-fs). Since this system however is still quite immature, and developing a good file-system takes a lot of time, ext4 could be used to bridge the gap.

All in all, I think it’s good to see that the Linux world is working hard to give us the best systems possible. I personally eagerly await ext4, although I think I’ll also wait a little longer to include these in my systems. But maybe if you’re running a non-critical machine and feel adventurous… .

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