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SubjectRe: Implementing Meta File information in Linux
Date
Raul Miller <rdm@test.legislate.com> writes:
> Elliot Lee <sopwith@redhat.com> wrote:
> > Did I forgot to bash any other approaches? ;-)
>
> You forgot the "embed it in the file" approach.
>
Bad idea, IMHO. We want the non-meta data to be readable with the usual
semantics, i.e. read and lseek do what they are specified to do, for _all_
file formats.

> Of course, to write a file you'll have to train your system to
> deal with a lot of common file formats, and the meta-data will
> probably look ugly in a standard editor.
>
You'll have to train _all_ your utilities, i.e. you need to use a preload
library. NO WAY, especially for non-Linux/Slowaris platforms which don't
have these in the first place.

IMHO, we should start with specifying what the solution should look like.

- access to normal files must be identical whether or not the file has
attributes or whatever (i.e. no AppleSingle solution where the metadata
for a file reside at the beginning of said file, no "the file's data are
really in the file 'filename/data'"),
- a normal recursive directory copy (via NFS, or whatever) will also copy
the metadata
- there should be no visual clutter (i.e., no AppleDouble solution, where
the metadata for "foo" reside in "%foo" or "foo.res")
- no kernel hack, because the solution needs to work on systems where we
cannot _do_ any kernel hacks.

The only solution I can think of which supports all of these is to use some
sort of dot.directory.

--
Matthias Urlichs | noris network GmbH | smurf@noris.de
The quote was selected randomly. Really. | http://www.noris.de/~smurf/
--
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.
-- Thomas Paine

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