Wich is the best file system for installing a Linux OS?

Eridani · 03-17-2016, 01:28 AM

I've been using ext4 for installing a Linux OS, however, I would like to know in for example reiserFS would be better, and wich would be the differences between them.

I have installed Ubuntu, openSUSE, Debian and some of their distros.

Thanks in advance for the help you can provide.

kirukan · 03-17-2016, 01:33 AM

Look at this thread,
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...iserfs-933194/

TobiSGD · 03-17-2016, 02:11 AM

Which filesystem to use mostly depends on your needs. For home users without special needs ext4 is just fine. If you have an SSD you might want to look into JFS, since it is pretty fast. I personally prefer BTRFS for because I make use of subvolumes, snapshots and the inbuilt RAID capabilities.

syg00 · 03-17-2016, 03:54 AM

Linux is about choice. There is rarely a unilateral "best". Even the kernel has competing claims.

dijetlo · 03-17-2016, 05:06 AM

Each fs-type has a specific purpose.
Copy on write file systems (BTRFS, ZFS, etc) create "gold" copies of your data in (more or less) real time.
Journaling (ReiserFS) file systems have safe guards to protect file integrity.
Ext-2,3 and 4 are simple to use and highly efficient (in regards to storage consumed).
If I was just going to install a new file system to get some time working with it, I might go with copy on write systems since those provide a technical capability (gold copy) which is valuable to understand.

Emerson · 03-17-2016, 06:42 AM

For the record, Ext-3 and Ext-4 do journaling. XFS is highly efficient handling large files. As always, more efficient filesystem greater the risk of damage in case of power loss. UPS is a good investment.

frankbell · 03-17-2016, 08:18 PM

Quote:

I would like to know in for example reiserFS

ReiserFS would not be a good choice, as the primary maintainer is not in a position to maintain it.

For home use, ext4 is fine. BtrFS and ZFS are have advantages that make them particularly attractive in the enterprise. This article offers a comparison amongst them.

jefro · 03-17-2016, 08:20 PM

Hello and welcome to LQ.

Not sure how much work has been on the reiserfs in a while. Personally I would avoid it since other choices would tend to offer better results. YMMV

As with many of the filesystems, tests on them are posted on web pages that tend to only remain valid for a few months or so. Speed and tools keep improving all the time.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...x-40-hdd&num=1

Don't think you can go wrong with ext4 or some of the other choices noted by others.

I tend to use what the distro defaults to unless there is some reason to adjust.

Emerson · 03-17-2016, 08:49 PM

Even when ReiserFS was actively worked on users were split to two: die-hard ReiserFS users and users who were unhappy with performance degradation over time due to internal fragmentation.