How To Move Your Linux Systems To ext4

LinucksGirl writes "Ext4 is the latest in a long line of Linux file systems, and it's likely to be as important and popular as its predecessors. As a Linux system administrator, you should be aware of the advantages, disadvantages, and basic steps for migrating to ext4. This article explains when to adopt ext4, how to adapt traditional file system maintenance tool usage to ext4, and how to get the most out of the file system."

But does it run...

[RiotingPacifist]

reiser4?

Re:Not for the casual user

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you realize how much porn some people have?

Re:But does it run...

[2muchcoffeeman]

Reiser4 will absolutely kill ext4.[/badtastedaemon]

Re:Not for the casual user

[Anonymous Coward]

Instead of waiting a few years, go to your local computer store. They should have terabyte drives now.

Re:Not for the casual user

[A nonymous Coward]

Disk sizes are going up. In a few years you'll see a terabyte on a single drive.

Unlike those two 1000 GB (or is it 1024) drives I have on my desk now.

Re:Wikipedia entry

[miscz]

Because nobody on Slashdot knows that primary filesystem used on Linux is called Ext3 and we're too stupid to figure out what Ext4 might be. Come on.

Re:Preempting the prefix war

[Dachannien]

Maybe a linguist can pitch in to explain why tebibyte sounds so awful?

Tebibyte-buh: It's bad-buh because-buh it makes-buh you sound-buh like Mushmouth-buh.

Hey hey hey!

Re:Wikipedia entry

[discord5]

Because nobody on Slashdot knows that primary filesystem used on Linux is called Ext3

Now now, don't give us too much credit

we're too stupid to figure out what Ext4 might be

It's like ext2 times two, stupid.

Re:But does it run...

[Sentry21]

From what I've read, Reiser4 completely kills Ext4 in performance... then it disposes of ext4's kernel module, removes one of its redundant drives, and then cleans the free space left on its array.

Re:Wikipedia entry

[Anonymous Coward]

My Linux box goes to ext11.

Re:Mere Mortals?

[mweather]

Do you think the public response would have been different had he been in a bar?

Re:Not for the casual user

[XenoPhage]

All you young kids want these days is a faster, more convenient fsck.. What about the old days where fscking was about the technique, not the speed or the size...

Re:But does it run...

[electricbern]

But it is too verbose, and that ends up being a problem.

Re:But does it undelete...

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps you should try prm (pansy rm) or psh (pansy shell).

Re:Preempting the prefix war

[sconeu]

If you define that 1 KB is 1 billion bytes, then they are are really fleecing you

I'd say that i fyou define that 1KB is 1 billion bytes, then you've got bigger problems than the marketing departments of drive manufacturers.

Re:Not for the casual user

[techno-vampire]

I can't wait for faster fsck.

I can tell you're a slashdotter. When most people fsck they want it to last as long as possible.

Re:Not for the casual user

[drinkypoo]

What about the old days where fscking was about the technique, not the speed or the size...

I'm just happy when it's done for me, and I don't have to handle it manually. When fscking fails at the beginning, it can ruin your whole day if you're not an expert.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Wikipedia entry

[ajayrockrock]

It's like ext2 times two, stupid.

No, wrong. it's the next stable release of ext. remember people, odd numbers are development, even numbers are stable!

okay, mod me down, I should really come up with new jokes [slashdot.org].

Re:But does it run...

[CatOne]

How would you know? It's as if the old Ext4 system just... vanished.

Even if you found a platter under the front seat.

Re:Not for the casual user

[Daimanta]

I fscked a 9TB partition is under 10 minutes.

That's what you get when you throw a harddrive in a bathtub with water.

Re:Not for the casual user

[CrazedWalrus]

No kidding. Sometimes I'm just not into fscking either, but if you're failing at the beginning, you may want to call an expert.

Usually my problem is that my fsck gets a "fsck-completed-normally", when the media is really only half fscked.

But don't worry -- fscking takes practice. If you got a quality media, you can half-fsck it many times before the media fails completely.

May I also suggest fscking aids? There are many tools on the market that can help when your fscking routinely fails doesn't complete. They're usually lightweight and easy to use, and can help to save your media from getting fscked elsewhere.

As you said, when all else fails, sometimes you really do just need to handle it manually.

Re:Not for the casual user

[stanleypane]

You obviously haven't been married ;)

Re:Not for the casual user

[SpaceLifeForm]

That should be 'dick' sizes if you're going to be waving your hard drives around here.

Re:But does it run...

[erlehmann]

Not only that. It killed my backup copies of bride.ru , i needed for, err science.

Re:Not for the casual user

[erlehmann]

Good grief people Yea just keep a few thousand TV shows on your desktop.

This could make for RIAA settlements in an order of magnitude of the GDP of a small country !

Re:But does it run...

[Anonymous Coward]

sounds like EOL with no possibility of fork.

Re:But does it run...

[erlehmann]

You apparently didn't get the whole picture. It's not about single files - Reiser4 is just a better choice for partitioning your wife.

Re:But does it run...

[Anonymous Coward]

Try looking amongst the random debris in your fanny pack.

Re:But does it run...

[apt-get moo]

In Soviet Russia, files find and kill YOU!

This never seems to get old.

Re:But does it run...

[AftanGustur]

Well, you open up your computer to find that the hard drive has been removed ..

And the rest of the PC interior has been carefully cleaned.

Re:Not for the casual user

[Anonymous Coward]

5.76TB, excluding the donkeys.