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Ext3cow Versioning File System Released For 2.6

Posted by kdawson on from the have-a-cow-man dept.

Zachary Peterson writes "Ext3cow, an open-source versioning file system based on ext3, has been released for the 2.6 Linux kernel. Ext3cow allows users to view their file system as it appeared at any point in time through a natural, time-shifting interface. This is can be very useful for revision control, intrusion detection, preventing data loss, and meeting the requirements of data retention legislation. See the link for kernel patches and details."

7 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Can No One Else INNOVATE? by macs4all · · Score: -1, Troll

    It isn't bad enough that MacroSuck(tm) has to copy Apple at each and every turn, now LINUX Devs have to do it, too?

    I mean, REALLY? Given that Unix has had the concept of file "versioning" since I don't know when (but a long-azz time!), and Linux has had what, like fifteen years to come up with something like this, I find the timing of this "revelation" highly suspicious.

    This is a reverse-engineering of Apple's Time Machine, through and through.

    I never thought I'd see the Penguin stoop to MacroSuck(tm)'s "R&D" tactics. Bleh!

    Mod me "troll" if you must; but you KNOW I'm right...

    1. Re:Can No One Else INNOVATE? by macs4all · · Score: -1, Troll

      That is a semantic non-issue. Either way, it's IP theft.

    2. Re:Can No One Else INNOVATE? by macs4all · · Score: -1, Troll

      Unless you work for Apple as an OS dev, you have zero idea how long this has been in the oven at Apple.

      As for the "why bother?" point: It is rude to steal, period. And if Apple has been able to patent any of this (yes, I know, software patents suck. I'm right there with you, but...), this may just have to be ripped right back out of the Linux kernel. Then what? As I replied to another post: It's IP theft, direct or indirect; but IP theft just the same.

      Or is Linux now reduced to following Apple's taillights, just like MacroSuck(tm)? Which was kinda my point, anyway...

      On another note: Pardon my gaffe regarding VMS vs. Unix. I did not know that versioning was a VMS feature. I had learned it was a Unix-y thing.

    3. Re:Can No One Else INNOVATE? by macs4all · · Score: -1, Troll

      And I guess this just hopped out of Apple's womb fully-formed at WWDC last year?

      If the Ext3[Tu]cow (even the name has Apple roots!) project was started in 2003, and it debuted in mid-2007, then by that same development timetable, Apple should have started their project in 2002, right?

      Or are Linux devs inherently slower than OS X devs? **ducks**

    4. Re:Can No One Else INNOVATE? by macs4all · · Score: 0, Troll

      You're right. Snapshots shouldn't be patentable. Apple's Time Machine GUI SHOULD, however. It was the "non-obvious" icing on an old, moldy cake.

      But don't ever breathe the term "System Restore" and "Time Machine" in the same post again. Comparing those two concepts as if they were equals is like comparing the Space Shuttle to a Model-T Ford: Yes, they are both "mechanized transportation", but...

  2. Re:True undelete by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Windows has been a halfed assed trashcan solution for a decade now.

    guess what, if you had enough energy to type www.google.com the first 8 links are all great projects and ways to do exactly what you said for the keywords "linux undelete"

    but then, typing those letter into a web browser is simply way to much effort.

    you must be either management or incredibly lazy.

  3. Apple by jlebrech · · Score: -1, Troll

    I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of Apple fanboys suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible^H^H^H^H^H has happened.