Subject: USERFS 0.6 released
From: [email-masked] (Jeremy Fitzhardinge)
Date: Tue, 17 May 1994 00:58:32 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce

[]
		 Announcing: userfs ALPHA version 0.6

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

Its really up to you to write what you want.  This release is not very
useful for non-programmers, because most of the work is yet to be
done.

This version is a loadable kernel module which only needs a very small
kernel patch.  The patch supplied is against Linux 1.1.11.

Changes in this release include:
   - More documentation
   - An improved and debugged library interface
   - Two more filesystems

The release comes with four filesystems:
   - homer, which simply creates a directory containing symlinks
     to every user's home directory.  Mounted on /u, it makes a
     passible replacement for '~' expansion in your shell which
     works for everything.
   - intfs, an experimental filesystem in which file contents can
     be generated by arbitary shell scripts on the fly as they are
     read.
   - egfs, a very simple example/tutorial filesystem
   - arcfs, written by David Gymer, which allows a compressed tar
     file to be mounted readonly and browsed as a filesystem.

An ftp filesystem and a mail filesystem are currently being worked on.

This release is available from:
	sunsite.unc.edu:pub/Linux/ALPHA/userfs/userfs-0.6.tar.gz
	tsx-11.mit.edu:pub/linux/ALPHA/userfs/userfs-0.6.tar.gz

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

-- LSM entry
Begin2
Title        = Userfs - user process filesystem
Version      = 0.6
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-0.6.tar.gz
FileSize1    = 98354
Site2        = sunsite.unc.edu
Path2        = pub/Linux/ALPHA/userfs
File2        = userfs-0.6.tar.gz
FileSize2    = 98354
Site3        =
Path3        =
File3        =
FileSize3    =
Site4        =
Path4        =
File4        =
FileSize4    =
Required1    = Linux 1.1.11 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      = 16 May 1994
EnteredBy    = Jeremy Fitzhardinge
CheckedEmail = [email-masked]
End

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