A Visual Expedition Inside the Linux File Systems

RazvanM writes "This is an attempt to visualize the relationships among the Linux File Systems through the lens of the external symbols their kernel modules use. We took an initial look a few months back but this time the scope is much broader. This analysis was done on 1377 kernel modules from 2.6.0 to 2.6.29, but there is also a small dip into the BSD world. The most thorough analysis was done on Daniel Phillips's tree, which contains the latest two disk-based file systems for Linux: tux3 and btrfs. The main techniques used to establish relationships among file systems are hierarchical clustering and phylogenetic trees. Also presented are a set of rankings based on various properties related to the evolution of the external symbols from one release to another, and complete timelines of the kernel releases for Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. In all there are 78 figures and 10 animations."

Comments

Hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

I could use a visual expedition among the various links on this summary.

Let me correct that for you!

[Azeroth48]

This analysis was done on 1337 kernel modules

Typo in summary.

[SharpFang]

This analysis was done on 1377 kernel modules from 2.6.0 to 2.6.29

I think they meant 1337 kernel modules?

My chart

[iamdrscience]

Usefulness of a hammer:
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Usefulness of an average Slashdot article:
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Usefulness of a screen door on a submarine:
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Usefulness of this Slashdot article:
X

Re:One other observation though...

[jeremyp]

It's easy.

I did it once and the fact that it couldn't be mounted was offset by the fact that no bugs were ever reported, nor did it it ever corrupt or lose any data. In fact, I didn't even have to write any of the implementation.