Hi Guest.

 >>>> Q> /dev/hda5           219      379  1293200   83  Linux native
 >>>> Q> /dev/hda6           380      623  1959898   83  Linux native

 >>>> Note that the reason for splitting /dev/hda5 and /dev/hda6 into
 >>>> two partitions was to avoid problems connected with the 2G limit

 >>> Which 2 GB limit??

 >> ... there have ... been claims that some of the utilities used
 >> with Linux can and will mangle partitions over 2G in size on
 >> 32-bit architectures.

 > Such rumour-mongering is harmful for Linux.

 > Either it is false, and then spreading such rumours is a very
 > bad idea (one hears the same false statements about the size of
 > swap partitions being repeated for more than five years, no
 > amount of contradiction suffices to kill the falsehood) or there
 > really are utilities with such problems, and then they should be
 > fixed.

The reason I said "there have also been claims" is because it's true:
Such claims HAVE been made, so I would be lying if I said otherwise.

The ONLY case I have come across of a utility with anything resembling
such a problem is mkisofs, which is considerably slower when creating
the image in a 2.1G partition than when creating the same image in a
1.9G partition, so is definately susceptible to partition size. Since
it doesn't actually scramble the partition involved, it doesn't fully
fit the claims that have been made, hence my very careful wording in
replying to that question.

 > I have used partitions of 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 GB for years, and
 > roughly speaking never seen a problem. ("Roughly speaking"
 > because once I noticed a flaw in mke2fs, which subsequently was
 > fixed by tytso.)

That's good to hear.

 > So, please stop stating such things unless you know about a
 > flaw, and in the latter case speak up, and an hour later that
 > particular flaw will be gone.

Like I said, the ONLY flaw that I have come across is the above one in
mkisofs. Perhaps you would like to confirm that the correct author
details for it are as follows:

 Q> Eric Youngdale <ericy@gnu.ai.mit.edu> or <eric@andante.jic.com>
 Q> wrote both the Linux isofs9660 filesystem and the mkisofs
 Q> utility, and is currently main- taining them. The copyright
 Q> for the mkisofs utility is held by Yggdrasil Computing,
 Q> Incorporated.

If that is still correct, then I reported that to the documented
author thereof when I first came across it, over a year ago now, and
as far as I'm aware, it's never been fixed.

Best wishes from Riley.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| There is something frustrating about the quality and speed of Linux  |
| development, ie., the quality is too high and the speed is too high, |
| in other words, I can implement this XXXX feature, but I bet someone |
| else has already done so and is just about to release their patch.   |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
 * ftp://ftp.MemAlpha.cx/pub/rhw/Linux
 * http://www.MemAlpha.cx/kernel.versions.html


-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/