On Fri, Dec 07, 2001 at 10:42:16AM +0100, Alistair Crooks wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 07, 2001 at 08:10:38AM +0100, Christoph Kaegi wrote:
> > On 2001.12.06 18:40, Dan Melomedman wrote:
> > > Try ReiserFS on Linux, even mounted "sync" this filesystem kicks butt with 
> > > many small files scenario. Should take under a few seconds to remove that 
> > > file tree. 
> > 
> > Would it be possible to import ReiserFS into
> > the NetBSD Kernel?
> 
> Even if we wanted to do this (which I'm not sure is the case), the
> first problem is its licence.

Just wanted to expand on what Alistair said...

The ReiserFS author has chosen GPL + alternate commercial licenses,
which basically means a company can buy their way out of the GPL
restrictions by making a deal with him. While I really don't care, that
combination really defeats the goals of the GPL, and I'm sure RMS et al
don't like that appraoch.

It seems unlikely that the author would want to BSD license the code, if
he's interested in trying to sell licenses to corporations, since he
would have to change his income plans from licensing to
consulting-based. (I haven't asked him though)

I haven't seen any real world benchmarks comparing ReiserFS to NetBSD's
filesystems - the comparisons on the ReiserFS web pages are all against
Linux filesystems. I haven't seen a design document for the
implementation, just a lot of talk about goals and objectives.

For a comparison of what I'd like to see, take a look at the UVM
documentation: http://www.ccrc.wustl.edu/pub/chuck/tech/uvm/ - in
particular, the 270 page "The Design and Implementation of the UVM
Virtual Memory System" document.

-- 
David Maxwell, david@vex.net|david@maxwell.net -->
If you don't spend energy getting what you want,
	You'll have to spend it dealing with what you get.
					      - Unknown