Subject: Announcing USERFS ALPHA version 0.4
From: [email-masked] (Jeremy Fitzhardinge)
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 21:16:32 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce

[]
		 Announcing: USERFS ALPHA version 0.4

Userfs is a mechanism by which normal user processes can be a Linux
filesystem, similar to Plan 9 filesystems or The Hurd's translators.
There are many uses for this, including:

Prototype filesystems

Prototype new block allocation algorithms in a user process and debug
with gdb before going into the compile-crash-reboot cycle of kernel
development.

Infrequent use filesystems

You want to mount "FooBaz 0X" filesystems under Linux, but you don't
want it that often, and you don't need it to be maximum speed.  Rather
than trying to get the kernel itself to understand, or write
specialised tools, write a filesystem program.

Add capabilities to existing filesystems

Want compression, encryption, ACLs?  Have a process to mirror an
existing file tree, but with your own extentions and semantics.

Completely virtual filesystems and new interfaces

Add a filesystem-type interface to an existing mechanism, or a
filesystem interface as a new way of representing data.  Sick of FTP?
How about:

	$ cd /ftp/tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/Linux
	$ cp README $HOME

Or mail?

	$ cd /mail
	$ ls
	001 002 003
	$ cat */From
	From: [email-masked]
	From: [email-masked] (Leroy)
	From: [email-masked]
	$ cat */Subject
	More things
	(none)
	That userfs thing
	$ 

You get the idea.

This verion is a loadable kernel module which only needs a very small
kernel patch.  The patch supplied is against Linux 1.1.4, but should
work with other patch levels of 1.1, and would need a small amount of
modification for Linux 1.0.

The release comes with two example filesystems: one is a simple "home
directory finder", and the other is "arcfs", a filesystem which allows
a compressed tar file to be mounted read only and perused with normal
tools.  It was written by Dave Gymer <[email-masked]>.

It is available from:
	tsx-11.mit.edu:pub/linux/ALPHA/userfs/userfs-0.4.tar.gz

Please send bugs and comments to Jeremy Fitzhardinge <[email-masked]>
Please send me mail if you find it interesting and intend doing
something with it.

** Last moment patch **

I just noticed a minor build problem.  Before trying to build it, do
the following:

cd userfs-0.4/kernel/linux
ln -s ../../genser/coder.h .

followed by the normal "make depend; make".

-- lsm entry

Title        = Userfs - user process filesystem
Version      = 0.4
Desc1        = Userfs allows normal user processes to implement a Linux filesystem.
Desc2        = Such filesystems may be mounted by normal users and are indistinguishable
Desc3        = from conventional filesystems.  Because they are normal processes they
Desc4        = have access to all the normal system facilities, allowing them to have
Desc5        = properties that a kernel resident filesystem cannot.
Author       = Jeremy Fitzhardinge
AuthorEmail  = [email-masked]
Maintainer   = Jeremy Fitzhardinge
MaintEmail   = [email-masked]
Site1        = tsx-11.mit.edu
Path1        = pub/linux/ALPHA/userfs
File1        = userfs-0.4.tar.gz
FileSize1    = 82483
Site2        =
Path2        =
File2        =
FileSize2    =
Site3        =
Path3        =
File3        =
FileSize3    =
Site4        =
Path4        =
File4        =
FileSize4    =
Required1    = Linux 1.1.0 or above
Required2    = modutils package
Required3    =
Required4    =
CopyPolicy1  = FSF GPL Version 2
CopyPolicy2  =
Keywords     = filesystem, process, kernel module
Comment1     =
Comment2     =
Comment3     =
Comment4     =
RelFiles1    =
RelFiles2    =
RelFiles3    =
Entered      = 15 April 1994
EnteredBy    = Jeremy Fitzhardinge
CheckedEmail = [email-masked]
End

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