From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on aws-us-west-2-korg-lkml-1.web.codeaurora.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-5.8 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID,DKIM_VALID_AU,HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,MAILING_LIST_MULTI, SPF_HELO_NONE,SPF_PASS autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.0 Received: from mail.kernel.org (mail.kernel.org [198.145.29.99]) by smtp.lore.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EF3F3C433DB for ; Wed, 27 Jan 2021 06:19:43 +0000 (UTC) Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [23.128.96.18]) by mail.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A1DA0205CA for ; Wed, 27 Jan 2021 06:19:43 +0000 (UTC) Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S234266AbhA0DNy (ORCPT ); Tue, 26 Jan 2021 22:13:54 -0500 Received: from lindbergh.monkeyblade.net ([23.128.96.19]:51672 "EHLO lindbergh.monkeyblade.net" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S2387745AbhAZTS5 (ORCPT ); Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:18:57 -0500 Received: from casper.infradead.org (casper.infradead.org [IPv6:2001:8b0:10b:1236::1]) by lindbergh.monkeyblade.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 29947C061574; Tue, 26 Jan 2021 11:18:17 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=infradead.org; s=casper.20170209; h=In-Reply-To:Content-Type:MIME-Version: References:Message-ID:Subject:Cc:To:From:Date:Sender:Reply-To: Content-Transfer-Encoding:Content-ID:Content-Description; bh=slbT+XV5IE8VlhB70udS4atkkfpdMMLuQ7GIBp0RBvY=; b=C2rEE33vnYai734zBLsuFL9aG4 MNup863NI8PrQ3APIkLyQk9w9x0tYnR+OsyN/nXcRDk/Ix86FCEpaLgo1opMfqxM2BSnuSoPjIFzd eJ3sotklgF+5uPlKc/ZTdf+9dU/4STj+HdQ8iROmY5JKUyZCF26KElLiXOW9kc6djm+wgFyAWQljK 0woqfCt7EXqSxcGXrgPY4SQecQolxcNf1Weq22USyr04mtCabWoJ+bbMUYWfwNrUqeNjwNMQT6G68 aAnY940HpeLoNgk3l9swl8E5fIhUUybMDLE7G2a2vn7HDtyr/dV2WO9Fom/hxaK9Fyp4uHfgUyRRS a1lNZIwA==; Received: from willy by casper.infradead.org with local (Exim 4.94 #2 (Red Hat Linux)) id 1l4Tq0-006Aqj-CU; Tue, 26 Jan 2021 19:17:31 +0000 Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2021 19:17:16 +0000 From: Matthew Wilcox To: Amy Parker Cc: linux-fsdevel@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: Getting a new fs in the kernel Message-ID: <20210126191716.GN308988@casper.infradead.org> References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 08:23:03AM -0800, Amy Parker wrote: > Kernel development newcomer here. I've begun creating a concept for a > new filesystem, and ideally once it's completed, rich, and stable I'd > try to get it into the kernel. > > What would be the process for this? I'd assume a patch sequence, but > they'd all be dependent on each other, and sending in tons of > dependent patches doesn't sound like a great idea. I've seen requests > for pulls, but since I'm new here I don't really know what to do. Hi Amy, Writing a new filesystem is fun! Everyone should do it. Releasing a filesystem is gut-churning. You're committing to a filesystem format that has to be supported for ~ever. Supporting a new filesystem is a weighty responsibility. People are depending on you to store their data reliably. And they demand boring and annoying features like xattrs, acls, support for time after 2038. We have quite a lot of actively developed filesystems for users to choose from already -- ext4, btrfs, xfs are the main three. So you're going to face a challenge persuading people to switch. Finally, each filesystem represents a (small) maintainance burden to people who need to make changes that cross all filesystems. So it'd be nice to have a good justification for why we should include that cost. Depending exactly what your concept is, it might make more sense to make it part of an existing filesystem. Or develop it separately and have an existing filesystem integrate it. Anyway, I've been at this for twenty years, so maybe I'm just grouchy about new filesystems. By all means work on it and see if it makes sense, but there's a fairly low probability that it gets merged.