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Apple Removes Nearly All Reference To ZFS
Roskolnikov writes "Apple has apparently decided that ZFS isn't really ready for prime time. We've been discussing Apple/ZFS rumors, denials, and sightings for some years now. Currently a search on Apple's site for ZFS yields only two hits, one of them probably an oversight in the ZFS-cleansing program and the other a reference to open source. Contrast this with an item from the Google cache regarding ZFS and Snow Leopard. Apple has done this kind of disappearing act in the past, but I was really hoping that this was one feature promise they would keep. I certainly hope this isn't the first foot in the grave for ZFS on OS X."
If something they were planning on including changes somehow not to Apples liking, why do the control freakery thing of removing all past references to it in a vain attempt to rewrite history 1984 style? Is it not enough to just say "well, we've decided not to use it anymore, we have other plans we can't discuss yet."
People change their minds, even the almighty Steve Jobs won't get everything right (as it finally gets released) first run out. Think about the image they're trying to sell us on here, and imagine it in other contexts to see how believable it is.
A band writing and recording a song: able to play the whole thing, from start to finish, building riffs, fills, solo etc in one take. Vocals, harmonies etc all done with no practice, all in one take. Instant magic? No, it's shit. ALL bands spend ages refining stuff, getting stuff to work, playing with a riff, altering it slightly, trying variations etc to find a blend that works.
A writer sitting down to write a novel, and creating a masterpiece on the first draft. Any writer will tell you the first draft is ALWAYS very rough and will often only bear a small similarity to the final work.
By trying to rewrite history to remove all references that they were planning to use ZFS in some way and now won't is like trying to fool the world into thinking what they use instead was plan A, when it wasn't. Are Apple really this petty and small minded? Are they really so desperate to control their image of "perfection on every try"? Do they have any idea how these stunts just make them look like asshats?
I'm really not trying to flame here, but we ALL know that end products come from a LOT of ideas, some work, some don't, some work in theory until some other requirement kicks in and makes that part not work. This is a long process of trial and error, this is very natural; it happens on EVERY project, from EVERYONE ELSE, except apparently Apple.
In this case IT people will remember this latest purge of anything the Apple hierarchy have decided never happened as it is, and not IT people have no clue what a file system is, or that ZFS is one of them.
It's not as if it's an open source project where a vocal minority of IT skilled people can fork OSX and implement ZFS if Apple don't. What's the worst that can happen? Some will be disappointed until they see what Apple have up their sleeves as an alternate to ZFS which they may or may not know themselves yet. Will they abandon Apple? Not likely, Apple people tend to be very loyal and will continue to throw money at Apple for stuff. They will already have spent a fortune buying vendor locked Apple stuff, so switching to Windows or Linux will be harder. In all likelihood they wouldn't touch Windows with a barge pole as it's what sets them apart from regular PC users, and they won't have heard of Linux. So what have Apple got to lose by leaving the decision / thought processes as they happened?
Guys, ZFS is currently in the Snow Leopard Server preview, it's just not in the main desktop version of Snow Leopard yet (it'll probably come in a few months). Not only that, but there are HFS+ and ZFS drivers for bootcamp. My friend just installed Windows 7 RC on a ZFS partition with Bootcamp on Snow Leopard Server. The following screenshot is SFW http://i40.tinypic.com/xdumw0.jpg
o one really uses OSX Server for anything really mission critical that relies on it for the kind of storage capabilities ZFS would provide. Do they?
Just the iTunes store. Millions of people beat on it every day. However, the insane demands of simultaneously activating a gazillion new iPhones has brought the iTunes servers down with essentially a DDoS attack.
Most of the stuff on