Apple HFS / HFS+ File-System Support Continues Seeing Fixes With Linux 7.3
Apple HFS and HFS+ file-system support continues to see fixes with the ongoing Linux 7.3 merge window. Despite being orphaned over a decade ago, the old Apple file-system support has seen a steady flow of fixes in the past year, with more improvements continuing to work t…
Intelligence analysis by Llama
Linux 7.3 is seeing a number of fixes to issues uncovered by Syzbot and xfstest testing failures, including a b-tree bitmap corruption check, validation improvements, and a clean-up for the KUnit testing.
Linux is still supporting old Apple file-systems like HFS and HFS+ because some users still need to use them. These file-systems were originally developed by Apple and were used in the macOS world for many years, but they are still useful for some users today.
Analysis
HFS/HFS+ File-System Support in Linux 7.3
The ongoing Linux 7.3 merge window has seen a number of fixes to issues uncovered by Syzbot and xfstest testing failures. These fixes include a b-tree bitmap corruption check, validation improvements, and a clean-up for the KUnit testing. The continued support of HFS and HFS+ file-systems in Linux is important for users who still find a use for these file-systems on modern Linux distributions.
Despite being orphaned over a decade ago, the old Apple file-system support has seen a steady flow of fixes in the past year. This is a success story for the Linux community, as it shows that even old and abandoned code can still be maintained and improved.
The HFS and HFS+ file-systems were originally developed by Apple and were used in the macOS world for many years. However, Apple replaced HFS+ with the modern APFS file-system in 2017. Despite this, the HFS and HFS+ file-systems are still supported in Linux, and the ongoing Linux 7.3 merge window is seeing a number of fixes to issues uncovered by Syzbot and xfstest testing failures.
The continued support of HFS and HFS+ file-systems in Linux is important for users who still find a use for these file-systems on modern Linux distributions. This includes users who need to access older Apple devices or who need to use these file-systems for specific use cases.
Key points
- Linux 7.3 is seeing a number of fixes to issues uncovered by Syzbot and xfstest testing failures.
- The fixes include a b-tree bitmap corruption check, validation improvements, and a clean-up for the KUnit testing.
- The continued support of HFS and HFS+ file-systems in Linux is important for users who still find a use for these file-systems on modern Linux distributions.
The continued support of HFS and HFS+ file-systems in Linux is a positive sign for the Linux community. It shows that even old and abandoned code can still be maintained and improved, and it provides a useful example of how the Linux community can work together to support old and abandoned code.
The continued support of HFS and HFS+ file-systems in Linux may also have some negative consequences. For example, it may lead to a situation where the Linux community is spending more time and resources on supporting old and abandoned code rather than focusing on new and innovative projects.