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View Poll Results: What filesystem do you use?
Extn
60
84.51%
Reiserfs
1
1.41%
Xfs
9
12.68%
Jfs
5
7.04%
Btrfs
15
21.13%
Other
5
7.04%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 71. You may not vote on this poll
I've noticed when reading instructions for doing various things that they tend to treat btrfs filesystems as a special case that causes extra problems. Are they more dangerous? More complex?
Reiser was quite popular a couple of years ago but doesn't seem to be any more, judging from this poll.
I read (now ) that it may not be good for adding data to the middle of large files and such thus not great for VMs? But, that's all I've been using it for lately, works fine.
Last edited by jamison20000e; 06-18-2016 at 11:05 AM.
If you've got huge files or huge disks or special needs, you may need a special filing system. My 40 GB HD is fine with ext3 and I use ext2 on USB sticks.
Xfs was one reason that the BBC switched to Linux. With Windows, the system wasn't fast enough to take the camera output, so that had to go on tape and be transferred to computer for editing next day. With Linux, the output of half a dozen HD cameras is swallowed with no problems.
Reiser has fallen off the map. BTRFS is still trying to find a home like ZFS. I like them both.
However, when you get the big name linux players running XFS and doing a lot of work on it you have to wonder how one of the oldest filesystems finds new life.
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
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I don't need anything particular from a file system other than being reliable and supported and ext4 is both, in my experience.
If Debian or any other system I'm using on future uses another FS I'll try it but until then I've no complaints.
ZFS seems to be well thought of so Canonical's insistence that it can be used under Linux I'm waiting to find out whether they turn out to be correct.
Distribution: Debian Sid AMD64, Raspbian Wheezy, various VMs
Posts: 7,680
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Quote:
Originally Posted by replica9000
I have two laptops running Debian on ZFS without any issues so far.
That's interesting to know. How is that achieved? I was under the impression that ZFS wasn't available from the Debian repositories due to license conflicts?
Sorry, I ought to have made it clear above that I don't doubt ZFS is a decent file system (whether it's a better choice than EXT4 for a desktop and other things aside) I always understood that licensing issues meant it took some messing around to use it as a root file system?
I also was using it with Arch Linux for a little bit too.
Edit: According to this page, ZFS is in the Debian repository.
It is in the Sid repository, so I could try it for my data drive, subject to backing up of currently "expendable" data and restore but I'd not be able to use it as root FS since there's not really a Sid install disk.
Thanks for the heads-up though as I'm considering a full reinstall (once remember if there's anything "odd" still left in my system) so I will keep ZFS in mind.
It is in the Sid repository, so I could try it for my data drive, subject to backing up of currently "expendable" data and restore but I'd not be able to use it as root FS since there's not really a Sid install disk.
Thanks for the heads-up though as I'm considering a full reinstall (once remember if there's anything "odd" still left in my system) so I will keep ZFS in mind.
It's also in testing. I installed both systems with debootstrap, so I had to add ZFS support to the livecd I used to install Debian. I haven't tried the ZoL version of Grub, since both of my system are UEFI, and have a separate vfat partition anyways.
Ext3 or 4, depending on the age of the install, because I really don't need the server-related capabilities that zfs or btrfs provide. Ext's journaling has saved my bacon a couple of times.
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) that it may not be good for adding data to the middle of large files and such thus not great for VMs? But, that's all I've been using it for lately, works fine. 
