[oi-dev] ntfs-3g and fuse

[Jean-Pierre André]

Hi again,

ken mays wrote:
> Jean-Pierre,
>
> What is your current analysis (if any) with 
> ntfs-3g_ntfsprogs-2012.1.15 ?? Just fuse kernel module issue?
>

ntfs-3g_ntfsprogs-2012.1.15 is the latest release by Tuxera,
this is the recommended version for Linux distributions.
Note that ntfs-3g has taken over the ntfsprogs tools last
year from a deceased project, so with
ntfs-3g_ntfsprogs-2012.1.15 you get the full scope of what
is needed to manage an ntfs-formatted device, on Linux,
BSD, MacOSX or... Solaris.

The advanced releases are previews intended for future
releases. They integrate new features and fixes which could
not make it for the latest Tuxera release. The advanced
releases are also a way to provide quick fixes when bugs
are reported. The latest advanced release for Linux
(2012.1.15AR.1, based on the latest Tuxera release) is
described in
http://b.andre.pagesperso-orange.fr/changelog.html
and you can see a few changes needed for OpenIndiana
included in this version, which can also be fetched from
the project repository :

git clone git://ntfs-3g.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/ntfs-3g/ntfs-3g


More changes are included in the more recent 2012.1.15AR.2
and 2012.1.15AR.3 which are currently specific to
OpenIndiana.

On the whole, needs for OpenIndiana related to ntfs-3g
proper and fuse-lite (lean fuse library) are minimal,
they are merged in the code managed by ntfs-3g, and
ntfs-3g provides support to users.

IMHO, OpenIndiana should act the same way as Linux
distributions : copy the source from Tuxera releases
and package it in its own way, and with its own tools.

But the fuse kernel module is quite another matter. It is
not maintained by the fuse project or by its original
developer. It is also distributed with CDDL and BSD-type
licenses, whereas the standard fuse and ntfs-3g are GPL,
so some isolation is needed.

Regards

Jean-Pierre