Forums | MacLife
You are not logged in.
#1 2003-02-19 7:18 pm
UNIX vs. Mac OS Extended file system: Advantages & Dis-a
I noticed that a Unix file system was an option when installing Jaguar. How is this different from Mac OS Extended file system and what are the advantages/dis-advantages?
bROCKNESS MoNSTER
"The Fates lead he who will; he who won't, they drag." - Seneca
Offline
#2 2003-02-19 8:00 pm
- test
- Member
- From: Collingwood, Ont., CANADA
- Registered: 2002-12-13
- Posts: 5079
Re: UNIX vs. Mac OS Extended file system: Advantages & Dis-a
I don't know what the supposed advantages of UFS are but I know this much from experience - all disk operations on UFS volumes are dead-dog slow. Boot-up takes longer, app launches take longer, copying files takes longer. Also, the only disk repair utility that can deal with UFS volumes is Disk Utility. Classic also becomes very unreliable if OS X is installed on a UFS volume.
Patience is a virtue of the weak for it makes them stand still long enough for the strong to crush them with ease.
Offline
#3 2003-02-19 8:06 pm
Re: UNIX vs. Mac OS Extended file system: Advantages & Dis-a
UFS is provided only for those who require greater POSIX compliancy in Mac OS X.
Pretty much the only advantage is case sensitivity in file names, which apparently is meant to be really great or something. 
There are lots of disadvantages:
-UFS as a format is old and out of date
-Its Mac OS X implementation is fairly slow
-Many apps will not install or run off a UFS partition
-Some apps seem to die when there's a UFS partition at all, particularly if Mac OS X is installed there
-Find is a lot slower for UFS disks (that's not a problem with Find, BTW)
-lacks proper support for resource forks
-it's not as cool as HFS+
Offline
#4 2003-02-20 2:32 pm
Re: UNIX vs. Mac OS Extended file system: Advantages & Dis-a
fascinating stuff. i toyed with the idea of reformatting my G3 with the Unix file system. glad i didn't bother. if case sensitivity is the big plus . . . zzzzzzzzzzz
bROCKNESS MoNSTER
"The Fates lead he who will; he who won't, they drag." - Seneca
Offline
#5 2003-02-25 5:49 am
- Tom_N
- Member
- Registered: 2002-01-24
- Posts: 887
Re: UNIX vs. Mac OS Extended file system: Advantages & Dis-a
Most of the time, using code written for a case-sensitive system on one that is case-insensitive and case-preserving shouldn't cause any harm.
Every once in a while, you'll come across something like an archive that has the files 'README' and 'readme'. On a traditional Unix file system, these are two files. On HFS+, this is a recipe for having the first file get overwritten by the second one.
Offline
#6 2003-02-25 4:37 pm
- smd3
- Member
- Registered: 2002-10-24
- Posts: 385
Re: UNIX vs. Mac OS Extended file system: Advantages & Dis-a
I tried it once. It was a big waste of time. Stuff didn't work, it was unstable. I didn't use it much, it turned out pretty much unusable.
Offline
